The Matrix: A Mind Set Free
by Warlord Darnell
Summary: Desmond Kingston, Neo's roommate, had been wondering what happened to Neo. Now he'll find out, one way or another... First Matrix fanfiction, please read and review. There's a love triangle, Desmond/Trinity/Neo. Desmond is an OC, & I made Mouse a chick
1. Brand New Day

**Matrix: A Mind Set Free**

**Chapter 1: Brand New Day**

The day started for Desmond Kingston. He rolled over in his bed, and turned the alarm on his cell phone off.

He got up, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. His hair was dark brown, dark enough to almost be mistaken for black. Yet, being a white, his hair was never truly black.

He walked over to the door, grabbed the towel off the hanger, and made his way to the bathroom.

"Hey, Neo, don't use the wat…" Desmond ended his yell. Every morning, he would usually tell Neo, his roommate not to use the water. Their apartment's plumbing wouldn't let them shower and use any other water at the same time.

However, Neo was gone. He'd been missing for three days already. Usually by now, Neo would come home and go on another one of his hacking runs.

Neo always came back home. Desmond usually had trouble getting him to leave. There was this singles mixer tonight, and Neo had promised he'd go with him.

However, if there was no Neo, then it seems he'd have to go to the next one.

Getting into the shower, Desmond cleaned himself up. Looking your best was essential.

When he got out, after wrapping the towel around his waist, he went to his room and got dressed. Afterwards he opened his laptop and started to check his email.

Usually, he had tons from the women whom he knew. Most of them were interested in him for romance, yet Desmond would only date one at a time.

Unfortunately, there was only one email in his inbox. It was from an address that was just a nonsense string of letters and numbers.

For some strange reason, he was compelled to open it. When he did, the strangest thing happened.

It took up the whole screen, black, with a simple message in green letters. It stated **The Matrix has you…**

It was the strangest thing he'd ever seen, yet it was only getting started.

Another message came up **Answer the door**. Desmond was confused as to what the message could mean. Before he could do anything, there was a knock on the door.

Desmond closed his laptop, and got up to answer the door. There, in the hallway, was the three people he'd dubbed "The Three Stooges".

They didn't look anything like Larry, Moe, and Curly. In fact, they only earned the nickname by always arguing, and their heartfelt need to hit each other.

The first one, his friend Carl Whitefield, was rather tall, and had red hair and freckles.

The second one, Gary Howe, was rather short and had sandy blonde hair and always had stubble, which was for some reason, a black color.

The third one, Jason Gray, had his hair dyed every day, and wore a pair of mirror shades similar to what pilots wear. He was roughly as tall as Desmond, and was the first to speak.

"You, me, Carl, and Gary, gig at a bar, though not just any bar, one of those lesbian bars. My sister got us the gig, don't ask how, but it pays handsomely. A hundred bucks an hour, for a three-hour gig. What'd you say?"

Desmond looked at the three guys standing at the front of the door. As much as he could use the money, he still didn't want to turn down the mixer.

In the middle of his thought, his cell buzzed, and made the sound of a gong. He'd received a message.

Bringing it out of his pocket, he once again saw the familiar screen from before **Accept the gig, and go with them…** it said.

"When is it?" he asked. "Starts at five, and goes until 8. However, if the crowd wants an encore, then they'll pay us for the additional hours."

"I'll see you there" Desmond answered, and then shut the door in their faces.

He noticed Neo's computer, and had a strange thought. _Is this what happened to Neo?_

He doubted it, and walked back to his room. He'd had a guitar and keytar, and could play both of them very well. He also sang.

The band that he had with the guy's was called Renegade. He also thought that the images he had on his instruments would surely fire up tonight's crowd.

He'd had names for his instruments. The guitar, a Fender Stratocaster custom, was called Sherrie, and had a picture of a red-headed girl on it, wearing a bikini.

His keytar, a Yamaha Altus, had a picture of a blonde in heels, a skirt, and a jacket, underneath which nothing else was on. The Keytar was named Jodie.

The other women would come and go, yet these two were with him 'til the end.

He plugged them in and started to practice. He didn't need the others. Desmond also knew the drill of when to arrive.

Arriving at this bar called Knuckle-touches', he got on stage through the back hall, and joined the other three members in practice.

For an hour they warmed up, ready for when the place opened. To his surprise, quite a few customers came in.

Desmond went up to the mike and started to talk "Hey ladies, we're Renegade, and are you ready to rock!"

There was a very weird response, as a few booed and a few cheered. "Well, let's get it started in here!" Desmond yelled back, and they started their set list.

For the first hour, everything seemed to go great. It wasn't until six, when he noticed her.

Unlike the rest of the customers, this woman didn't seem interested in anything else. She just eyed the band. Not sexually, but with a different sort of interest.

The woman was wearing a black overcoat over a black jumpsuit. She had black hair, and had blue eyes.

She didn't do anything else but stare them down, standing near the bar and refusing every offer from everyone, ranging from another female customer offering sex, to the bartender offering a drink.

For that entire night, she just stood there, staring Desmond down. A jar of tips had been placed on the bar for the band, and while others had put money in it, she did not, yet continued to watch them.

Desmond was used to performing in front of people, and being watched, a big part of being a performer, yet he'd never received the stare that he got from her.

At the end of the three hours, there was no request for a encore. Desmond and his band made their way off the stage, and walked up to the bartender, who proceeded to pay them, and gave them the tip jar to divide amongst themselves.

On their way out, the lady who'd been staring him down tapped his shoulder. Desmond turned around.

"You had better run Desmond, the Agents are on their way." She warned.

From out the window, Desmond could see two men in the familiar black suits walk towards them.

He'd heard how people who got captured by them never came back the same, yet he doubted they could be after him.

"I recommend that you follow me." She then said, right before the Agents broke down the door to the place.

"Is a man named Desmond Kingston in here?" The lead one said. All of the women just looked at the agents, and began to point at Desmond.

He looked around for the rest of his bandmates, who were nowhere to be found.

Cursing his luck for taking a gig at a lesbian bar, he turned around to see the lady in the overcoat start to walk towards the back door.

Desmond ran after her, and the chase began. The two Agents ran towards him, leaping from table to table.

Desmond was out the back door, and shut it behind him. He looked to see the Overcoat lady run forward.

He ran after her. From behind, he heard the sound of the door being busted down.

He turned his head and saw that the Agents were still after him. He noticed the lady in the overcoat started to get into a car, and motioned for him to come in after her.

Desmond happily accepted the ride, and saw them. They were dressed in similar outfits. The driver was wearing a similar black coat. He was an Asian man, had to be roughly in his thirties. The front passenger was the one who caught his attention.

He was black, in his late thirties-early fourties perhaps. He had a shaved head, and wore a green snakeskin overcoat. He had a pair of sunglasses that were jet black, and reflected everything.

"Good to see you Desmond. I've been waiting a long time for this." He said. "My name is Morpheus." He announced.


	2. The Ordeal

**Chapter 2: The Ordeal**

Desmond was stupefied. Whoever these people were, they sure were strange.

"I understand that you're Neo's roommate." Morpheus clarified. "Did you ever wonder what happened to him?" He then asked.

"I have three things I would like to know!" Desmond answered. He put up three fingers "One, who the hell are you!" He asked, bringing down one finger "What the hell did you do to Neo!" He then brought down another finger. "And how do you know my name!" He yelled.

Overcoat lady and Morpheus both looked at him, and the driver looked to Morpheus before turning back to the road.

Morpheus was about to answer, when the Overcoat lady lifted her hand up.

"I'm Trinity." She said, offering her hand out. Desmond shook it. "That's Kyle, our driver." She paused "And you obviously know Morpheus by now."

Desmond looked at Trinity. With a good look, he thought that she was kind of cute.

"We know your name thanks to Neo." Trinity explained. Desmond was confused. If these people kidnapped Neo, and are after him too, then he'd best try to get out of here.

Just as he was about to reach for the door, Morpheus spoke up "You can leave now, and take your chances with the Agents, but if you do, then you may not find out what happened to Neo. I assure you that he's fine, and can't wait to see you."

Desmond was confused. He couldn't wait to see what happened to Neo, and frankly, would like to know what that was all about.

The Driver spoke up. "We're here." He said. They pulled up to a run-down apartment building.

It looked like the building had seen better days. Desmond got out, and trying his best to be the gentleman, slid across the trunk to open the door for Trinity.

However, he was too late, and instead got the door opened in his face. Kyle and Morpheus looked at each other, while Desmond tried his best to shrug it off.

Desmond however had a new idea with it. Assuming they were going inside the building.

He ran to the door, and worked the jamb. He stood at the side, holding it open.

Morpheus and Kyle though they could be the first in, yet Desmond held out his arm to block them "Ladies first" he said, motioning to Trinity.

She walked up, and entered the door. Morpheus grinned. Kyle looked impatient.

"After you Desmond, I insist." Morpheus whispered. Desmond spotted the cops start to head after them.

Walking inside, he noticed the true extent of the dilapidated structure. Walking in, following Trinity, he was brought to a room.

It wasn't very big, yet the stuff that it had was what drew his attention. He noticed a lot of control panels around a mirror, with a chair in the middle.

Two more people in overcoats were seated at the controls, yet two more stations were empty. "Take a seat." Morpheus said from behind. "Answers will come shortly."

Desmond walked to the chair in the center of the circle. Morpheus stood next to him.

"What the hell is going on?" Desmond asked. "You will find out in a few short moments." Morpheus answered in his usual calm demeanor.

"We're ready when you are." Trinity said, now seated behind another set of controls.

"What do you see in the mirror Desmond?" Morpheus asked. Looking into the mirror, he saw his reflection was very distorted like a carnival funhouse mirror, yet the mirror looked completely normal from the outside.

"Almost makes you want to touch it, am I right." Morpheus said. Indeed, Desmond had wanted to touch it very badly, yet tried his hardest to resist.

Within moments however, he succumbed to his weakness, and touched the mirror with his fingers. What happened next however, was like a bad acid trip.

The mirror stuck to his fingertips. He tried to shake it off, yet it had the opposite effect. It started to crawl towards him, staying on his skin, wrapping it in a metallic way.

Desmond screamed bloody murder. All it did was make it go faster. The responses from the people at the controls helped even less, saying stuff like "Code response normal" and "Steady".

Unfortunately, the mirror gel made its way to his face, and eventually down his throat.

Blacking out, he heard the words "soon."


	3. Rebirth

**Chapter 3: Rebirth**

Desmond woke up in some kind of tank. Everything was red, and he was submerged. He had wires connected to him in ports of sort.

He had to get out. He flailed, trying to move. His hands met a metal spot on the top, and he started to get up.

The top of the tank was a sort of thick film. Desmond was determined to get out. He pressed hard on the film, pushing with all of his might.

Eventually, it gave out, and snapped free. Desmond sat up, and looked around.

The tank was suspended in the air, attached on one side to a metal wall. There were also other tanks with people in them, all appeared to be sleeping.

Desmond felt around himself. It seemed that on the back of his head, at the base of the spinal cord, there was a large wire. It seemed to be stuck deep inside of him.

Looking up, he saw it. It was a floating machine, with tentacles, and a single red eye.

Desmond was scared. Whatever the Hell was going on, it was freaky. If Carl put LSD in his water again, and this was an acid trip, then it must have been bad acid.

The Machine floated up to him, and wrapped his head in it's "mouth" of sorts.

Desmond felt a strange tingling sensation all over, and when the process was done, noticed most of the cords attached to himself were disconnected, including the one at the back of his head.

Before he could do anything else, he was quickly being sucked down the tank.

The water around him went with him down a chute of sorts. There were seven right turns and three left ones.

He was dropped in a pool of sorts. It stank to high heaven and had an oily film at the top which kept on sticking to him.

Desmond had never been very religious, but it seemed that now would be a very good time to pray.

_If you are up there, will you please help me get out of this mess_? It was done silently, in his head, in case there were people around him in what he still thought was an acid trip.

A bright light appeared from above. Looking up, he saw a window, and a crane on theinside. He also saw the familiar face of Morpheus, operating the crane as it reached out and grabbed him.

Inside, there was a gray metal finish to the room, as Morpheus brought him into a chair.

He saw a mirror on the wall to his right, and got a good look at himself. His green eyes saw that he was bald at the moment, and pale as a ghost. He was still covered in some of the fluid. He felt a touch on his left shoulder.

Turning around, he saw Trinity, cleaning him up. "What is this, where am I?" Desmond asked; whispering.

"This is a ship called the Nebuchadnezzar." She answered. "Someone has been looking forward to seeing you." She said.

Desmond felt a tap on his head. Looking up, he saw a very familiar face.

"Neo?" He whispered. Neo nodded. The next three hours of cleaning up were a blur, with Desmond being brought to a cabin.

He felt the walls, their cold reminding him he was sober. During the acid trips, gray tasted a bit like mayonnaise. He knew this wasn't a trip. But what was it?


	4. Brave New Life

**Chapter 4: Brave New Life**

Desmond was afraid. If this wasn't an acid trip, then what was it? It was a scary ordeal, waking up in a pod, being flushed, and being rescued by a strange ship full of so many familiar faces.

What he'd give for a pen and paper. Songwriting always helped. He still remembered all of his original songs he wrote. His band sang covers, and for a good reason. He'd wondered if Trinity could sing.

Would a girl like Trinity ever like a guy like him. He'd always grown bored with the same facts that his other relationships ran the same course. He wanted someone new. He wanted Trinity.

He also wanted some clothes, because he was naked at the moment, whit a set of metal briefs covering his genitals.

He heard a knock on the door. "You okay in there?" A male voice said. Desmond paused before asking "What do you want!"

"Shesh Des, way to talk to a man who invented you a present. I was just stopping by to give you some clothes." Neo replied.

"Come in please." Desmond answered "It's cold in here, and I'm scared."

Neo opened the door and dropped a shirt and pants on the floor. "I also have a surprise for you." Neo announced.

Desmond's stomach did a flip. He was completely naked, and if the surprise was Trinity, then he thought he would die on the spot.

Instead, Neo pulled a small box out. "I thought you might want to write, so I brought these to you."

Desmond looked inside. There, was a bag of pens and a legal pad and 12 notebooks.

He grabbed it, set it down, and shut the door. If anything, the idea of songwriting always set him free inside.

After changing into the shirt and pants, he took out a pen and some paper and got writing.

Time seemed to slip away after that. Eventually, after he filled up three of the notebooks he had with all of the songs he wrote from before the ordeal, he fell asleep.

No alarm was there to wake him up in the fourteen hours after that. Instead, a more soothing personality woke him up.

"You okay Desmond?" Trinity asked, knocking on the door. "You've been in there two days you know."

Desmond woke up, and instinctively looked to his wrist. Instead of a form-fitting wristwatch to tell him the time, he just saw his pale skin.

"Can I come in?" Trinity asked. Rather than give Desmond time to answer, she just opened the door.

There, were notebooks open and a pen leaking ink onto the floor next to Desmond's hand.

Desmond looked up, straight into those crystal-blue eyes. "You hungry Des? You've been in there two whole days." She asked.

Desmond heard his stomach growl like a creaky machine, loud enough to possibly be heard by Trinity.

"Sure sounds like you are." Trinity commented. Desmond was hungry. "What do you have?" he asked.

"Come and see." She answered, and started to walk down the hall. Desmond noticed she moved with a cat-like grace, and decided to follow her. They made their way down the hall and into the mess.

Desmond saw Neo listening to a speech being given by Morpheus. There was also a smell that Desmond found irresistible, and made him even hungrier.

"Well, I heard we freed another one, I just needed to see it with my own eyes then." A voice said from behind.

Desmond turned around. A tall black man with dreadlocks was standing behind him. The man also seemed to be lacking in plugs that were found on Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and Desmond himself.

"I see you've noticed the lack of plugs." He said; "It's because I was actually born. You'll understand after Morpheus gives you the little introduction and you jack in for the first time."

The man then started to walk towards him "I'm Tank by the way." He said, offering his hand.

Desmond shook it, "I'm Desmond. I'm sure you know that already though."

"Come on, let's get this kid something to eat. I can hear the fact that he's hungry from a mile away." Tank said as he started to walk away.

Desmond just kept following Trinity. As he followed her, he let the details of the way she moved sink in. It seemed to be an ecstasy of pure attraction. He was also careful not to let the fact that he was checking her out show.

She took him to a vat with what appeared to be Beef Macaroni and Cheese. She grabbed two bowls and handed one to Desmond. "Just tell me what you think is enough." She said, and was reaching into the vat to start to serve him, when Desmond held his hand up.

"I insist that you be served first. My gentleman's ways would prefer it." He explained.

"Okay then." She quipped, and served herself. Desmond however kept looking at her face, and did not notice the fact that she was starting to serve him, and had nearly filled his bowl to over the top when she realized what was going on.

"You gonna eat all that?" She asked. Desmond looked down. It seemed that she had served him quite a bit.

It was Neo who came to his rescue with the response. "I've seen this guy eat an entire pantry full of food for a snack. If he's hungry, he'll want seconds, trust me." He explained for him.

"You've got that right." Desmond said, walking away, playfully punching Neo's arm, which he just took.

Desmond took a seat between Tank and Trinity. He focused on his food, unsure of a conversation starter that would be relevant in this strange new reality.

Also, he made sure not to gross out the lady sitting next to him, which was a rather easy thing to do.

About halfway through his food, he received a tap on the shoulder on Tank's side.

Desmond turned around. "I'll give you some of my cornbread if you tell Trinity this;" Tank said. He leaned towards Desmond and whispered "Tell her she's a fox."

Desmond's eyes lit up. He'd wanted to say that for a while. He turned to her and whispered in her ear "You're a fox."

Trinity looked at him for a moment, before punching him in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him.

"Call me that again and I guarantee that the hit will be way lower." She threatened, before looking at Tank "I know you told him to say that," she said "I'd sleep with one eye open if I was you."

Desmond had regained his breath at this point, and noticed a piece of cornbread next to his macaroni and cheese.

Tank really did keep up his end of the deal, and frankly, Desmond had no idea that there was cornbread. He grabbed it and started to eat. Afterwards, he finished eating the macaroni and cheese, and went back to his room.

He stayed there for a while, until he heard another knock on the door. "Who is it?" He asked.

"Morpheus," answered the person on the other side "I say that it's time for you to know the truth."

Desmond was confused, yet really wanted to know what was going on. "I'll be right out." he replied, opening the door and then following Morpheus.

They went to this big room in the center by what appeared to be the bridge to the ship.

Desmond noticed that the place had chairs with a spike of sorts on them.

There were computers, and Tank was operating one. Neo was standing by one chair, and on the opposite side of it was Trinity.

"I insist that you be careful as you take a seat," Morpheus said "If the cerebral node doesn't go in the right way, you're in for the pain of your life."

Desmond shuddered at what he thought was going to happen. He took a seat in the chair leaning away from the spike, trying to keep it from going into the back of his head.

He was confused as to what this was, when Trinity explained "This'll feel weird at first, yet you'll get used to it."

"I went through this just before you were brought aboard, so it'll be fine." Neo put in.

It didn't really help, and it took Trinity forcing his head onto the spike to get it done right.

Desmond's body tingled at first, before he went through a whole new sensation.

He was in a white room, completely right to the point where the walls, ceiling, and floors blended together.

"You see, reality is relevant to where you are Desmond." Morpheus said from behind.

Desmond turned around. There, in a leather armchair, was Morpheus. Next to his was a second, empty armchair.

"Sit down Desmond." He instructed, motioning to the second chair. Desmond took a seat. "Is this real?" he asked.

"What is real though?" Morpheus asked back "If real is the electrical impulses and signals that the brain receives when we taste, touch, see, hear, and taste something, then The Matrix is real too."

Desmond was confused. "What is the Matrix?" he asked. Morpheus grinned. "The Matrix is the dream world you were in. You thought it to be the year 2000, when in reality, it is more like 2199."

Morpheus paused, grabbed a remote that appeared on the arm of the armchair, and pressed a button.

A TV turned on that had just appeared. On it, was a montage of scenes from what he'd just seen.

"Now, what you see on that TV is the world at the end of the twentieth century and the start of the twenty first." Morpheus explained "Now, what the world looks like in reality is this." Morpheus motioned around himself

It seemed that the world had become a desert, with some ruined cities in the background and a thunderstorm overhead, which appeared violent.

"This is what the surface looks like. A desert wasteland. No one goes to the surface anymore. There is no reason to since we've blocked out the sun." Morpheus continued.

Desmond was scared out of his mind. He also noticed a table had appeared in between the two armchairs, and saw his reflection in a miniature mirror stand.

It seemed that his hair color had been turned a true brown, and his eyes with it.

The scenery stopped, and they were back to the white room. "As you've noticed, I've changed your hair and eye color. This is what's called a residual self-image. It's the reason Trinity and I wear the outfits in the Matrix. You will get to choose yours soon, and so will Tom."

Desmond muttered "Neo" a few seconds after Morpheus said "…Tom" "What was that Des," Morpheus asked.

"Neo." Desmond answered "He prefers to be called Neo." "Well," Morpheus answered "I'll leave that up to him. I wish you luck with this new adventure you will be going on with him. It will be the ride of your life." Morpheus paused. "Now to explain what The Matrix is, I first need to explain what happened to have it come into existence. On December 21, 2012, Artificial Intelligence was achieved. It allowed for a freeing of labor. Eventually, with upgrades, a machine put on trial, and other events, things went south. In a few years, a war had broken out between man and the machines. As a last resort, we blocked out the sun. It worked for a little while, yet eventually, things went further south. As a last resort, the machines bombed a peace conference between us and their ambassador, using it as the bomb. Eventually, humanity became their power source, as nuclear material ran out. A prison for the mind was created to keep all of these humans busy, yet eventually, humans who were born ran out. To keep up with demand for heat and power, they started growing them. There are whole fields where humans are grown in the pods, and then plugged into the wall. We actually refrain from freeing a mind until they reach a certain age. Even then, we usually give them a choice. Usually."

Desmond was confused "Usually?" He asked. "Yes." Morpheus answered "We give them a choice between taking the red or the blue pill. You can only leave by taking the red pill; which we had your friend Jason put in your drink back at your gig."

Desmond swore a word that Morpheus had never heard. "I knew something was put in my drink. I knew it."

"Neo tells me you usually are rather paranoid with that," Morpheus explained "due to the fact that Carl often puts LSD in your drink when over at your place and leaves. Now, Neo told me that you would really want to know what happened, and eventually, you'd have taken the red pill. Was he right?"

Desmond nodded. He would have wanted to know bad. The fact that Neo knew that showed how good of friends they are.

"You know, in this Brave New World, you can do quite the feats. You can bend the laws of physics in the Matrix to do your bidding, and you can actually have a new life. No need to worry about the rent being due, the band needs gigs, or whatever you worried about usually while in the Matrix. All of that is not needed."

Desmond was confused, and scared. He wanted to kill Jason for slipping something in his drink, and all he wanted at the moment was to get out of there.

He had a panic attack of sorts, and suddenly found himself outside of the spike, which was still in his head.

Desmond screamed as a response to the pain. He wanted to get off of it. "GET ME THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" Desmond screamed. Trinity came to his rescue, sliding his head off of the spike.

Desmond got up, hyperventilating. He looked at the scene, and noticed Morpheus getting off of the spike.

"What's wrong?" Neo asked. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Desmond vocalized, shaking the ship with his deep baritone voice.

Trinity was about to say something when Desmond ran out of the room, and back towards his cabin; slamming the hatch behind him.

Desmond wanted to be left alone. He needed to think, to clear his head. This was a major ordeal. He needed time.


	5. The New Life

**Chapter 5: The New Life**

**Trinity**

_ Trinity was confused as to what went through his head. She knew what this meant, but at least Neo didn't go through that. It was almost like he was scared of what this meant._

_ She looked at Morphues "You scared another one." She said. "I guess I have to go clean this up. You guys really don't know what y'all are doing sometimes." _

_ She then stalked out of the room. Once out of eyeshot of the guys, she returned to a regular walk._

_ As she was walking to his room, she realized that the guy actually found her attractive. _

_ She could use this to her advantage in helping him. If he just doesn't call her a fox again, then things will work out. _

_ She knocked on the door. "Desmond, is everything okay in there?"_

**Desmond**

There was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Desmond asked, yelling slightly.

"It's Trinity, is everything alright?" she said, opening the door. "You really screamed back there."

"Yeah, I just need some time for this to sink in. I still can't believe that's what's going on." Desmond replied "Just never thought that things were really like that."

"You wanna know something?" Trinity said, taking a seat on his bed next to him "I thought the same thing too. I couldn't believe Morpheus either. Yet here I am now, with over 500 hours jacked in."

"Really," Desmond said, a hint of skepticism in his voice. "yes, really" she answered. "I hope that you'll be ready for the next part to this. We'll help you choose your residual self image when your ready."

Trinity then started to walk away. It seemed that her time in the place was through, and she shut the door behind her.

Desmond just sat there for a moment. He would have never guessed that a girl like her even got scared.

Desmond brought out the legal pad and started to draw. He had a faint idea of what to draw. He drew lines, and set them at angles to each other, until they started to look like crystals.

He drew three sheets worth of crystals, setting them on the wall of his cabin. He then found a four-color pen and started to color in the crystals.

He soon had three sheets full of either blue, green, red, or orange crystals.

He set them on the wall, feeling slightly better. His crystals looked like they were rough-cut, yet something about them felt right.

He then walked out, and walked back to the bridge. Everyone had left, and it seemed like the whole place was empty.

"You okay there Des?" Neo's voice said from behind. Desmond turned around. "You were really freaking out." He explained.

Desmond sighed "One moment, you're living in what seems to be the year 2000, and the next, you're in this strange new future. I first thought that this was an acid trip at first. Now that I'm sure it's not, I'm starting to wonder what's going on."

Neo just stared at him. "Were you not paying attention to Morpheus, this is the real world. The present day; you know I thought you would have wanted out. Now I'm beginning to wonder." He said.

Desmond gave him a look that would kill before he started to yell back "IF I'D HAVE KNOWN WHAT WAS REALLY ON THE OTHER SIDE, THEN PERHAPS I'D HAVE THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY! I JUST FOUND OUT I WAS A BATTERY UNTILL ALL OF THIS! I THEN GET A SPIKE INSERTED IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD! I HAD ASKED FOR FOUR SIMPLE THINGS WHEN WE BECAME ROOMMATES! YOU PAY YOUR HALF OF OUR EXPENSES, YOU NOT INTERUPT ME WHEN I BRING A LADY OVER, THAT YOU ACTUALLY TALK WHEN I BRING HER FRIEND, AND THAT YOU HAVE MY BACK! I GUESS THE LAST ONE WAS TOO HARD FOR YOU TOM!"

Desmond then stalked out of the room, down a different hall. He went past Morpheus, who tried to ask what that was all about, yet just got the cold shoulder.

Desmond had no idea where he was going, hoping that he could find the one person who seemed to understand him. She found him instead.

"You okay?" she asked. Desmond just fell against the wall, wrapping his head in his arms. "I just yelled at my best friend for no reason." He answered.

Trinity was shocked. "He was just trying to ask how you were. You didn't have to scream your lungs out at him."

Desmond looked up "The strange thing about that, it wasn't that hard to yell. I've always been used to yell-singing my songs, a typical rock 'n roll way to sing." He paused. "Do you know how to sing Trinity? I imagined a pretty girl like you has a voice like an angel."

Trinity seemed rather taken aback. "Well, I don't know Des, I've never really tried to sing. I've only sang during the month that my parents went to church when I was little. That was back in the Matrix. I doubt I could even sing now if I wanted to."

"I could teach you if you want. I'm not asking for you to yell-sing like I do, but sing none the less." He answered.

"Uh… I really don't want to Des." She replied. "Don't do it for yourself, but for me. It'll give me something to do, since I still don't feel comfortable jacking-in yet." He answered.

Trinity looked at him for a moment, almost unsure of what to say. "Alright, yet if you try any funny business, I will put you in pain." She answered.

"Alright, let's go back to my room." Desmond said, and started to walk back to his cabin, Trinity a few steps behind.

Arriving in his cabin, they sat down. Desmond was confused as with what to do. He figured he'd start by asking her something relating to songs.

"So, did you like any songs back when you were still in the Matrix?" He asked, it seemed the most natural thing to do.

"Well, I never really liked that much music, except this one song More Than A Feeling by Boston. You know it's…" She answered, interrupted by Desmond with an "I know."

"Would you like me to sing it?" She asked. He replied "Go ahead, that's where I'm going with this."

Trinity cleared her throat, and sang "I looked up this morning Noticed Summer's gone/Turned on some music to start my day/then lost myself in a song/I closed my eyes as I slipped away/"

She sounded like she had potential, holding a different note for each verse.

Desmond thought to himself for a second, wondering what to say next. "You have quite the potential Trin, you just need to work on your scales." He said.

"Scales?" She asked. "like this Do-Re-Mi-Fi-So-La-Do" Desmond clarified, speaking the first words and then singing the scales.

"So, just work on that?" She asked. "Yes, you should master the scales for our first lesson." Desmond answered.

For a good hour, Desmond had Trinity work on her scales. What was the most amazing part about that was the fact that Trinity seemed to be a fast learner. It also seemed that Trinity was an Alto-Soprano.

Desmond decided to end the lesson at thirty minutes. "So, just practice your scales, and I'll see you the same time tomorrow."

Trinity looked confused. She spoke up with "I think I'd like to do something for you Des. I'll be right back." Getting up, she walked out the door.

Desmond barely had five minutes to close it when a knock was heard. Opening it, he saw Trinity and Neo.

"You two are going to talk things out like normal people. You two are supposed to be best friends, and you should still be even in the real world." She explained.

Desmond didn't realize the fact until just now. "Look man, I'm sorry I ne…" he said, until he was interrupted by Neo

"I shouldn't have forced this new reality on you, I have no right to decide what's best for anyone." Neo said.

Desmond wrapped Neo in a bear hug, saying "I love you man". Neo returned the hug, saying "I love you too Des"

During the middle of this, Trinity said "Now I knew you two were still friends. In fact, I was thinking of moving Neo's current room into yours, to make it just like old times for you two."

"Fine by me Trinity." Desmond said. Trinity looked at Neo as the hug ended "You okay with it."

"Sure Trinity, that's all good with me." Neo answered. It seemed that they were fine with it, and Trinity left for a moment, then came back carrying a cot.

"Now you two can have things just like they were at the apartment." She said.

Both guys were rather taken aback. "We had separate bedrooms back at the apartment." Neo explained.

"Well, you do now." She said, setting the cot in it's place and shutting the door behind her.

Neo and Desmond both sat on their respective beds, looking at each other. For a good ten minutes, there was awkward silence. From outside the door for a moment, Trinity could be heard practicing her scales.

"So, did you get lucky while you were away?" Neo asked. "No," Desmond answered "When you're an opening act, you don't really get much, and that amount decreases when you're a cover band."

The silence continued. "You take down the site I like we agreed?" Desmond asked.

"Current events caught up with me, so no." Neo answered. Both men wished they had something to end the boredom. Things were awkward to the 2nd degree, and both men were bored.

A knock came at the door. Both men scrambled to open it. Neo got to the hatch this time. Morpheus was on the other side of the door.

"I'm sure you two have an idea as to what your residual self images will look like." The man explained. " I think that the two of you would be ready to jack in again."

Both men were sure that they would be ready. All that was needed was the excuse to be out of the room.

They followed Morpheus to the bridge. It seemed that a third chair was added, and at the controls sat Trinity.

"Take a seat gentlemen. I'm sure that you will enjoy it this time." Morpheus said, motioning to the chairs.

Desmond and Neo both sat down, allowing the nodes to go in. Morpheus did the same. Things will get different, and be different.


	6. Digital Training

**Chapter 6: Digital Training**

Inside the digital realm, it seemed that the white room was back, but with a few differences.

There was a pair of mirrors that would allow you to see both in front of you and behind. Morpheus was standing in the center. Both Neo and Desmond walked up to him.

"I see you both aren't afraid of the digital realm." Morpheus said. "Now it's time for you to decide what you look like."

Desmond looked at himself in the mirror. The reflection was one that he remembered. His eyes were green again, and he had his near-black hair color.

"Is there anything you'd like to change about the way you look, the way people will see you?" Morpheus asked. "Perhaps a hair color you've always wanted to try?"

Desmond knew exactly what he wanted in try. "Perhaps pure white?" He asked.

For a moment, nothing happened, but then, his near-black hair turned a pure white.

Desmond liked it, yet thought the current length was a bit too short for the color to work.

"Can I have it down to my shoulders in the back?" He asked. The next thing he knew, he had it down to the shoulders.

Desmond looked an Neo, who hadn't done much else with himself, other than change his outfit. Neo had a gray shirt on, an overcoat, a pair of sunglasses, and some black denim jeans.

Desmond was still wearing what he had on the first time, yet had an idea that would trump Neo's outfit.

"I think a set of boxer's bandages around my hands would be good look." He said.

A few moments later, some bandages appeared around both hands. Desmond was impressed.

"How about a pair of black slacks, a button down shirt, a green vest buttoned on top of the buttoned down shirt, and perhaps a pair of pilot's wrap-around shades." He suggested.

A few moments later, the outfit appeared on him. It seemed great, just needed two more things.

"Perhaps an overcoat, a black tie, some combat boots, and a broadsword on my waist?" he asked. The next thing he knew, he had all four on.

He felt the hilt of the broadsword, feeling the weight of it. He drew the blade, and to his surprise, he had an actual sword.

Turning around, he noticed Morpheus dressed in the outfit he wore when he met him. The green overcoat, the katana, and the rest of the outfit were all there.

"Perhaps time for some training for the boys. I think that it would only be fitting, that you two to take me on, two against one." Morpheus said.

Before there was time for Neo or Desmond to respond, there was a rumbling, and the white room became a place with floating blocks and bottomless pits.

Desmond was scared, yet ready to take Morpheus on nonetheless. Running up to him, he slashed down.

Before the fact had time to even register in his brain, Morpheus appeared on a moving block, floating left and right in a slow motion.

Neo was just watching this, grinning at what just happened. "Think fast boys." Morpheus said, this time with an Uzi in his hand.

Morpheus pulled back the cocking mechanism and let it rip. The platform Neo and Desmond were on was the biggest one in the room. Desmond rolled back, sword in hand.

It appeared that Neo had run away, and jumped onto a block, trying to get his balance on the fast-moving cube.

Desmond saw something strange with the bullets. It appeared that they were slowing down as he saw them.

Desmond's own voice seemed to slow down too, and so did his movements.

The idea dawned on him to use the sword to block the bullets. Moving in a sweeping motion with the sword, he put it in place and moved back and forth, deflecting bullets as they came.

After the stream, his time-perception seemed to speed back up to normal. _This must be how they move so fast against bullets!_ Desmond thought.

This time, Neo seemed to be jumping from cube to cube, trying to sneak up on Morpheus.

Desmond however, had a different idea. "Come and fight me with that katana, sword on sword!" He yelled.

Morpheus reached for his, and slowly brought his out. It was on. Jumping from his current perch, Morpheus landed on Desmond's platform.

Desmond swung the sword around in wide motions, moving organically with the swing, constantly shifting his feet.

Morpheus ran up to Desmond, and swung left-up-diagonal. Desmond blocked opposite, moving his feet with the swing. He then did a trip kick on Morpheus, which was evaded by a jump.

Morpheus flipped with the jump, landing behind Desmond and knocking the sword out of his hand from behind.

The sword flew through the air, and Desmond turned around, staring down the katana's tip.

"You may have had training in medieval swordfighting, yet you're skills are rusty Desmond. I suggest you improve them by the time we go back into the Matrix on a mission." He said, before sheathing the sword. "I suggest you go get your's."

Desmond got up to go dislodge his from the platform. Turning around, he saw Neo receive the Wu-Chi-Fist-Of-Silence, a backwards punch right to the face.

"Training's over for today gentlemen. Please get us out Trinity." Morpheus announced.

The next thing he knew, he was back in his chair on the Neb. It seemed that Trinity was gazing at the two men, completely unaware of Morpheus behind her, who tapped her shoulder.

She jumped, and nearly did the Wu-Chi-Fist-of-Silence. Morpheus caught her fist in his hand. "I pray that you do not try that again, for your sake." Morpheus commented.

He let go of her fist, and started to walk away. Neo and Desmond both looked confused at what just happened.

The two men went back to their room, talking about ways that they could try to win again. Desmond also tried to explain what helped him dodge the bullets, yet all it did was confuse Neo.


	7. The Match of Facts

**Chapter 7: The Match of Facts**

The conversation went on for another hour in such a fashion, ending with a knock on the door.

"Come in." The two men said in unison. From it entered Trinity, carrying a bag and a black and white checkerboard. "Thought you two would like something to keep you busy," She said, setting the board down with the bag.

They both looked inside, and saw that there were both black and white chess and checkers pieces.

"You two have fun." She said, walking out the door. "Wait" Desmond said. "Would you like to play against the winner?" He asked.

Neo looked at him, confused as to Desmond's motives. Trinity turned around "Sure, what game?" she asked.

Neo said "Checkers", while Desmond said "Chess." The two men continued until they said "best two out of three decides it." Then they started doing rock-paper-scissors, the outcome of which favored Desmond.

Setting up the board, Desmond was the white pieces while Neo was the black ones.

Desmond had begun an attack strategy, while Neo stuck to the usual defense strategy.

Desmond would take one of Neo's pawns, while Neo would take another pawn after one of his was taken.

This strategy had half of the intended effect, with Neo out of pawns, and Desmond having only three.

Eventually, Neo resorted to keeping a line of sorts that Desmond would have to make it past. This was line four. Desmond easily had a backup strategy.

By sending in a piece to draw another one out, he would either move his bishop or his rook to take the piece that intended to take the one he sent out.

Neo was normally was a good chess player, beating more people in chess-by-email than Desmond could count. However, it seemed the only person who could beat him at chess was Desmond. Neo's strategy was very predictable.

All the while, Trinity watched. Not the game, but both men. Almost as if she was attracted to them.

**Trinity**

_Trinity cared less about the chess match in front of them. Instead, it seemed that these two men, both of which seemed rather dreamy to her._

_ Normally, she'd not have had this reaction. Yet both seemed to be quite the men. _

_ She remembered the Oracle's prophecy, which said she'd fall in love with "The One" however, she seemed to be in love with both of them. The strangest things often happen when you least expect them._

_ Neo seemed to be losing at the match. Or was he winning. She wasn't very sure, and frankly could care less. Perhaps the winner would pick checkers; she never understood how to play chess._

_ Before she knew it, she got bored watching the match. It seemed that Neo had one of those bishop things, both of those castle pieces, a single of the horse pieces, and a king and queen piece. Desmond had all of his pieces still; Neo must suck at chess._

_ Still bored, she started practicing her scales. Singing might be a great way to pass the time in the real world, and the other guys never liked her singing. Especially her heavy metal favorites; those were the shit._

_ For now, she just hummed some of her favorite classical music tunes, and felt content. The other songs and artists that fell in between would be good too._

**Desmond**

It was nearing the endgame with the match. Neo had put up quite the resistance, but ultimately was failing.

Neo always used his queen to defend the king, it seemed to keep the checkmate from happening, and was overall a very good strategy.

Desmond needed to think straight. Him and Neo would always play chess when they were alone, usually on the days that Neo's company would give them.

Desmond was self-employed, and therefore could set his own schedule; provided that he had money from gigs.

However, Desmond couldn't seem to function straight in Trinity's presence. It would be way different if she wasn't staring at him.

Next thing he knew, she started practicing her scales. She seemed to be trying to mess him up. However, Neo also seemed to be part of her gaze, and he had the audacity to look back every so often.

Next thing he knew, Neo was able to take most of his pieces. Neo came up with a new strategy that had his rooks holding the sides by his king, and the Bishop was able to be positioned right in front of him.

The queen and the knight were somehow able to pick at his pieces, which he had the audacity to have spread across the board.

In seven turns, Neo had taken his knights, rooks, bishops, and his last pawn.

Desmond had only managed to take Neo's knight in those seven turns. All he had left was his queen and king. Immediately, he brought the queen in front of the king.

Neo responded with sending a rook to where it was right next to his king. It seemed that Neo had finally beaten him, finalizing it with "Checkmate."

Desmond shook Neo's hand. Getting up, he said "I'm hungry. I'll go see if there's anything in the mess." After that, he walked out of the room. If all went according to plan, Neo would have to talk to Trinity. Desmond just hoped that Neo wouldn't try to flirt. The guy was bad at flirting, and if the quest to get the man laid was to be completed, there needed to be practice. Back at the apartment, Desmond had his twin sister, Desdemona help. His sister also was a hacker, so it made conversation easier.

However, now was time for Neo to get some practice. Provided that Trinity doesn't punch his lights out for trying.

**Trinity**

_"Wonder what he would want?" Neo asked. Trinity didn't answer, and took a seat on Desmond's bunk. _

_ "Can you teach me to play chess Neo?" Trinity asked "I never really learned, and I've always wanted to play."_

_ "Sure, I guess. After one gets beat a ton in real life, you often resort to simpler games." Neo answered, and reached for the bag with the chess pieces._

_ Desmond would have gladly taught her; why did he have to leave. She tried a tactic that she used only when she had to. _

_ "Please Neo, it would really mean a lot to me." She said, placing her right hand on his chest._

_ There was nothing wrong with doing that of course, yet for things to work, she had to make it seem that she didn't like him that way already. She prayed that it would work._

_ "Alright Trin, I'll teach you how to play." Neo said, dropping the bag of checkers and placing the pieces back on the board._

_ "Okay, so the first thing to know is what the pieces are and where they go." Neo began "This," he reached and grabbed one of the shorter pieces with the round top "Is a pawn. These guys represent the grunts of your army in chess." He set down the pawn and picked up the castle-looking piece "This is the rook. He represents the siege machines used back in medieval times." He set the rook down and picked up the one with the strange top "This is the bishop. He represents clergy, who would give last rights to the dead. However, in this game, he is a soldier, and can take pieces just like everyone else." He set down the bishop and picked up one of the horse pieces. "This is your knight. He's the one who is often moving into strategic places, and can often change the tide of a battle; or match in terms of chess." He set the knight piece down and was reaching for the queen, when she interrupted him._

_ "I know, King and Queen pieces." She said, pointing to each one respectively. "But how do the pieces move?" she asked._

_ "I was just getting to that." He said. He picked up the pawn. "He moves only one direction, forward, and one space at a time. He can move two spaces the first time you use him though." _

_ Neo set the pawn down. He then lifted them up and explained where each piece moved; knight in an "L", rooks in straight lines, bishops in diagonal, and only on the colored squares, the queen going in all directions, and the king only moving one space in any direction, yet the only one you can't take pieces with. Neo also explained how you try to defend your's and capture your opponent's._

_ After that, they had a practice match. Trinity beat Neo badly; only loosing her pawns in the whole match._

_ When the endgame happened, Desmond came back, and saw her win. He also came back with some more macaroni and cheese. She forgot it was Macaroni Monday aboard the Neb._

**Desmond**

He returned with three bowls of macaroni and cheese. There was a bowl for each of them, though the one Desmond meant for himself was his second helping.

Opening the hatch with an elbow, he entered to see Trinity beat Neo at a game of chess. Neo lost badly in this round, due to the fact that Trinity had only lost her pawns.

"I brought food." Desmond said, handing Neo and Trinity a bowl. "Thanks Des," they both said in unison. After that, Neo had the audacity to say "Jinx" right afterwards.

Instead of Trinity complaining at the fact, she simply hit him upside the head.

Desmond grinned. He know knew not to say jinx if they both say something at the same time.

He then started eating the macaroni. Slightly cold, it was still very good. He then thought of this really funny joke to tell.

"Anyone want to hear a joke?" He asked. Neo and Trinity both looked at him. Neo said "Sure."

Desmond cleared his throat before he began. "So this guy, down on his luck, walks into a church to ask the advice of the minister what he should do. The minister says 'go onto the beach, lay a bible out on your lap, and let the wind blow the pages. Then follow the advice of the first thing you read.' So, three months later, the guy comes back wearing a three-piece Armani suit, gold chains, and cash just sticking right out of his pockets. The minister's like 'what did you read?' the guy then says 'Chapter 7'."

For a moment, there was silence, and then they both began to laugh. It just took a while to get the joke.

Neo and Trinity both stopped laughing after a few seconds. The joke mustn't have been that funny, yet the fact that he made Trinity laugh was satisfying enough.

"Hey, I have one." Neo announced. "So the pope flies in from the airport and goes to his limo. The driver's standing outside. The pope asks the driver if he can drive. The driver says no. The pope then asks again, saying 'they don't let me drive anymore back at the Vatican, and I really want to drive. If you let me, I'll do something special for you.' The driver agrees, and gets in the back of the limo. Now the pope starts heading for the interstate, and starts doin' a hundred. Now a cop notices this and starts speeding after them. The driver tells the pope to pull over, which he does. Now the cop comes out, and looks in the drivers end, then in the back of the limo before going to radio dispatch, which he does. Now, he says 'I think I just pulled over someone really important' dispatch goes 'who, the mayor' the cop goes 'no' 'the governor' 'no' 'the president' 'no'. Then dispatch goes 'well who is it'. The cop's like 'I think it's god.' Dispatch goes 'what makes you say that?' the cop's like 'cause he's got the pope as his limo driver."

Both Trinity and Desmond laughed. Trinity kept laughing after Desmond had stopped. Desmond remembered the joke from the joke book they kept in their bathroom.

The next thing he knew, him and Neo were trying to see who could tell the better joke. This competition mostly kept Trinity with a constant grin on her face.

Eventually, both of the guys ran out of jokes. At this point, it was late, and all three were really tired. They all decided to retire for the night, with Trinity giggling on her way out.

Soon, with the guys falling asleep in their beds, everything was nice.


	8. Early Morning Surprises

**Chapter 8: Early Morning Surprises**

Desmond woke up first. He figured it was still pretty early, due to the fact that there was hardly any activity, usually audible on board the Neb. It seemed that the only sound heard was that of the engine, which seemed to be on idle by the difference in tone.

Getting up out of the bed, he walked over to the hatch. He had slept in his pants, yet no shirt.

Careful not to wake Neo, he opened the hatch, walked through, and shut it behind him.

It was the perfect opportunity to explore the Neb. So far, he only knew of four places on board; his room, the hallway to the bridge, the bridge, the hallway to the mess, and the mess.

He wanted to find the engine room. It would be incredible to see the engine, and perhaps find Trinity's room.

Making his way up the hall that led to the bridge, then down the second hall, he found two hatches. One had the word **Captain** written on the side.

The other had the words **Keep Out or Else**. It didn't take much guesswork to tell who's room was who's.

Opening the one that said **Keep Out**, he awoke to a very peaceful sight. That of Trinity sleeping, and waking up.

"I never thought I'd see your face this early" she said. "You usually sleep in."

"I would sleep in, if it wasn't for the fact that Neo snores." Desmond explained.

"Well, come over here, I have a little surprise for you." She said, curling her finger to come over.

Desmond started walking over, and then got the strangest surprise ever. Trinity then leaned forward, and her lips met his. It was quick, being broken off before Desmond had a chance to react. She then leaned to his ear and whispered "I've been wanting to do that, just don't tell anybody about this."

"My lips are sealed." Desmond replied, making a zipping motion on his lips with his fingers.

She then slid off the bed and started to walk out. Desmond followed her as she went to the mess hall. She then went to the galley and started to cook. She explained "It's my turn to make breakfast, so take a seat or give me a hand, whichever you prefer."

Desmond decided to give her a hand. After a short while, they had made a toast, scrambled eggs, and enough bacon for everyone to have seconds. They also made orange juice.

In a few minutes after they were done, everyone came in. Desmond met Dozer, Cypher, Mouse, and Apoc.

After a few short moments, Morpheus came out of his cabin and helped himself to breakfast, eating silently.

However, throughout most of breakfast, Neo was nowhere to be seen. After a while, Desmond wondered if Neo was okay, and told Trinity he would check on him.

Her response was "I'll do it. You just stay and eat." She then walked out of the mess hall down the opposite door.

**Trinity**

_She_ _thought that things were going great. She knew what she wanted to do when she got to Neo's room. She wanted to kiss him, just like she kissed Desmond._

_ The fact that she was in love with both men didn't matter. The Oracle's prophecy said she'd fall in love with The One. Both didn't seem like they could be The One. _

_ The only one who even seemed close was Desmond, yet, if he was the one, he'd have stopped the bullets. Yet Neo's great parkour skills in the training realm were quite impressive. _

_ A bit too impressive for a beginner. And the way he could cross the distances was impressive. Desmond didn't notice, yet she saw Neo cross a thirty foot distance in the training realm._

_ Before she knew it, she had walked to their room. She knocked on the door, and then opened it. _

_ There, sleeping on his cot, was the peaceful form of Neo. How she loved his alias; Neo. She whispered it aloud "Neo". _

_ "Someon say my maim?" He asked, groggy, meaning to say "name" instead of "maim?"_

_ She spoke up "Right here Neo." She answered. "Breakfast's ready in the mess." She then explained._

_ He got up, put on a shirt, and started to walk out of the room. "Wait, just want to give you something first." She said._

_ Leaning in towards him, she slowly, inch by inch, brought her lips to his. The kiss was quick, with her having cut it off before he could really kiss her back._

_ "You mustn't tell anyone about this. I mean no one." She said. Neo nodded, and said "I won't tell a soul."_

_ "Good." She said, and started walking back to the mess hall with Neo following her._

_ She arrived to see Morpheus giving Desmond another one of his speeches._

**Desmond**

Eating his breakfast, it seemed he had to listen to one of Morpheus' speeches.

This one was about choices. "…and if you make the wrong choice, it always seems that the consequences come back faster, as if the world seems to recognize the fact sooner."

Desmond just nodded and continued eating. He tried not to respond too much, yet wanted to make it look like he was listening.

In reality, he couldn't get the fact that Trinity had kissed him out of his head. He was trying to remember what her lips felt like; the kiss was so quick.

Before he knew it, Trinity had returned, this time with Neo behind her. Desmond had forgotten how much time had passed since she'd gone to wake Neo up. Not that there was anything to worry about, the guy really wanted to sleep in sometimes.

Back in the Matrix, it seemed to get the guy into a lot of trouble. However, there should be nothing to worry about.

The rest of breakfast went by smoothly, however, Morpheus announced that the time was ripe to go back into the Matrix; the new crewmembers needed to talk to the Oracle.

Upon hearing the news, his stomach fell. Whatever would happen, he was sure that it would not be good.

When it came time to jack-in, he got a bad feeling.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey, Warlord Darnell here. I know what you're thinking about Trinity kissing both guys. I know, but it is simply a love triangle. I am not trying to write her off as one of those types of women.<strong>

**I also ask that you review please. It really helps me know what people think of this; the number of hits and visitors only tells so much. Please, click reveiw and leave as much of your opinion as you are both willing and able to fit into the 2x6 box. If you do, I'll be able to update faster and with better stuff. So how about it.**

**I also do not own The Matrix. That belongs to Warner Bros studios. However, I do own Desmond. So please, please, don't use him without my permission. He is my OC.**


	9. Day of Truth

**Chapter 9: Day of Truth**

Desmond was jacked-in. He shouldn't have anything to worry about on this end; Tank and Dozer were to be operators.

It wasn't what was going on in the real world that bothered him. It was the fact that they were on a mission that did.

Arriving in The Matrix, he noticed that they were in the same old apartment building that they brought him to when he was last here.

He could see the mirror on the floor, and looked at his own reflection. He saw his residual self image, and didn't feel better or worse.

Neo, who was next to him, looked like he was doing just fine. Of course, Neo was very stoic most of the time, and it never bothered him.

Morpheus, Trinity, Mouse, Apoc, Switch, and Cypher were all looking at Neo and Desmond. It seemed that they would be leading the way.

And so they did. Desmond was looking at Neo throughout most of the walk, yet it seemed that Neo was rather unfazed. Neo was usually comfortable talking to very few people, Desmond included. However, if the guy didn't want to talk, then he didn't want to talk.

The group brought them to a concrete park behind some buildings. The place had a basketball court, a spot for some volleyball nets, and a bench.

"Take a seat you two." Morpheus said. "The Oracle will be with you shortly."

The two men did as Morpheus told them. They took a seat on the bench, which had room for three, and waited.

After a while, it seemed both of them were bored, and starting to grow skeptical. They looked at each other, wondering what this was.

"So good to see you two all grown up now." A woman's voice said. They turned to see a little black lady sitting down on the other end of the bench, smoking a cigarette.

"You two must have been brought here by Morpheus. He's been looking for The One." She said.

Neo spoke up on that subject. "Morpheus said that I am supposed to be The One."

Desmond figured. Morpheus seemed to have so much focus on Neo, a man who was horrible with Matrix skills, who got confused at the explanation of the simplest of things. However, if Neo wasn't then maybe…

"Am I The One?" He asked. The Oracle responded quickly with "I can guarantee you that you aren't. However, maybe he's waiting for something. A second life perhaps."

She paused allowing the words to sink in. "You have a destiny of being very close to The One Desmond. You will both have something try your friendship greatly." She finished, getting up, and walking away.

**Trinity**

_After they left the two men at the park, they made their way into a warehouse half a block away. They were supposed to find a mind who wanted out. Cypher said that he found her._

_Cypher also seemed to be a bit distant lately. Normally, he was always talking. It also seemed suspicious that Cypher found a mind. He normally was on the sidelines._

_They entered the warehouse, noticing all of the shipping containers. There were tools scattered everywhere, as well as signs of a struggle, with bloodstains found occasionally on the crates._

_There were also spent shells lying about the floor. Yet, the strangest thing was the lack of bodies._

_Trinity had a bad feeling about this. She and Desmond had been given a set of walkie-talkies so that she could talk to Neo and Desmond. _

_She reached for it and pressed the talk button. "Desmond, has the Oracle finished with you and Neo?"_

_Desmond's voice came back with tons of static "Yeah, she is. Where are you?"_

_She pressed the call button "We're in this warehouse, on the corner of Fifth and District. You can't miss it." _

_Desmond didn't respond. She assumed that he got it. She hoped that they would get here in time._

**Desmond**

Looking up from the Walkie-talkie, he looked at Neo. The guy looked like he'd lost everything at a casino. He just looked at his shoes.

"Hey Neo, we gotta go back and rendezvous with everybody." He announced.

Neo still kept looking at his shoes "What's the point, this just means Morpheus was wrong." He said.

"Well, they need us regardless." Desmond said. "You wouldn't want to disappoint them. They need us, chosen one or not."

Neo looked up, and then got up. He started walking the opposite way though.

"Hey, the warehouse is this way." Desmond pointed out. Neo spun around without saying a word.

The two men ran to the warehouse, trying to get there before the other one.

They entered through two different doors, and started to walk. "Trinity" Neo called. The guy kept on calling her name.

He was completely oblivious to the fact that Desmond was calling her through the walkie-talkie.

"Trin, you there?" He asked through the device. "Yeah, we're on the platform above you. There's a flight of stairs to your right just around the corner." She replied.

"Okay, we're on our way." Desmond finished. "Yo Neo!" he yelled. "They're on a platform above us, there's a flight of stairs to our right. We'll take those and meet up with them."

Neo nodded, and started to run towards it. Desmond followed, and halfway through the climb, they heard a scream. It was female.

* * *

><p><strong>Me again. What do you think? Tell me in the 2x6 box that comes when you press the review this chapter button. A few minutes of your time with that would be greatly appreciated. <strong>

**Trinity fans, I hope that you didn't faint. You know that it could also be Mouse. Mouse fans, don't worry, I may or may not kill her. I haven't decided if she'll suffer her fate from the first movie yet; I'm trying to image what things would be like if she was in Reloaded.**

**Tell me what you think in a review. I'd greatly appreciate it.**


	10. High Stakes Changes

**Chapter 10: High Stakes Changes**

**Trinity**

_Mouse had screamed. There were Agents on the scaffold across from theirs._

_ The worst Agent Trio of all were staring them down. Agents Jones, Brown, and Smith. _

_ Trinity looked around. It seemed that Cypher was missing. Almost as if he knew they were coming._

_ Agent Brown looked over at the stairs below them. He must have noticed Neo and Desmond. It would be over for them if they killed them._

_ Agents Jones and Smith both reached into their jackets and pulled out an Uzi, one for each agent._

_ Instead of firing on them from far away, they leapt over to their platform. _

_ The Agents landed, one on each end. It appeared to be over. The Agents advanced forward, and started to fire._

**Desmond**

Gunshots were heard next. He looked at Neo. "They need our help." Neo said. He was right.

They scrambled the rest of the way up. He saw two agents both closing in on Trinity, Mouse, and Morpheus.

It was too late for Mouse though. She was a bullet sponge at this point, absorbing all of Smith's gunfire.

Jones however had stopped shooting a bit early. The agent looked at it, and then threw it away.

Morpheus saw them and yelled "Get out of here, Go!". Trinity leapt over the railing and onto a shipping crate. It didn't take much guesswork to know to run.

He turned around, mounted the banister, and slid down it. Neo just looked up at Trinity, who yelled "Run!"

Desmond had made three lefts, and eventually got lost in the maze of shipping containers.

He turned around, and heard something. It sounded like footsteps, the kind that seemed to be walking. It had to be an Agent.

He turned back around, and took the fourth left. It had brought him to a dead end. He knew this was the end of the line, and decided to at least try to bring down the Agent. He gripped his sword's hilt and drew it from his waist. It's showtime.

**Cypher**

_"I need out of here guys!" he said. "Alright, we're bringing you back. Give me a second." Tank said. _

_ He could only guess where Apoc and Switch were in the Matrix. Not that it mattered, he'd take care of them soon enough._

_ He only had to keep his end of the Bargain with the Agents. He felt himself being brought back to the real world._

_ Removing himself from the node, he walked over to the operator's controls, and just stood there._

_ "Whatcha doin' just standing there?" Dozer asked. Cypher didn't answer. He reached into the back of his pants, and lifted up the shirt, revealing the gun behind him. Reaching for it, he drew it._

_ "Hey, what are you doin' with that right there?" Tank asked. Cypher didn't answer, and instead shot him in the arm and leg once._

_ Tank fell to the floor. Dozer looked at him, and started to get up. Cypher shot him in the head at point blank. He fell backwards after that, stone cold dead._

_ "Let's take care of you now." Cypher said to himself, as he walked over to where Apoc and Switch were, and removed them from their nodes._

**Trinity**

_ She saw Apoc and Switch run to try to give help when they fell down. They then fazed out in a flash of static. They must have been removed in the real world. _

_ She prayed that she wouldn't be unplugged. To be unplugged in the real world without being removed was an instant death._

_ She ran like hell, trying to find Neo and Desmond. She saw Neo inside run through an empty crate, yelling "Desmond, Desmond!" _

_ "Neo, wait!" She yelled. He turned around. "Trinity, we have to find Desmond." He explained. "I saw him run this way, and Agent Brown was after him." _

_ She swore violently at the news. No one had ever lived in one-on-one with an Agent. She always had to run. _

_ She heard more Agent footsteps. Turning around, she saw Jones on top of the crate she jumped from only moments ago. _

_ The Agent turned around and started walking back at the sound of Smith's voice. _

**Desmond**

He saw the form of Brown walk over to where he was. Brown just calmly walked forward.

"Mr. Kingston," he said; "It's been a while. I'm sure you remember me and Jones from when we tried to get you at that lesbian bar."

Desmond stood his ground "I honestly had done nothing wrong though." He said. "I simply had a gig there. I've also commited no crime of any sort. I've gotten the occasional parking ticket, yet I've always paid them off. I'm what you call an upstanding citizen."

Brown just stared at him "Mr. Kingston. You have been an accessory to Mr. Anderson's hacking. Last I checked, you wrote him a check for a thousand dollars, with the memo of 'for doing me a computer favor.' Last I checked, your friend Mr. Anderson had been doing quite a few 'computer favors' for quite a few people. You've confirmed our suspicion that he's the hacker Neo with a simple phone call. You always call him that."

Desmond looked calm. He came back with "It's a nickname. He likes to be called that. Is there anything wrong with your best friend having a nickname?"

Brown said "Well, if his first name is Thomas, I assumed his nickname would be Tom. Not something as unrelated as Neo. And for resisting arrest, you will now be removed."

Brown then drew an Uzi from the inside of his jacket. Desmond started to swing the sword around. He had still kept it in his hand. He only had hoped to stall Brown.

Brown pulled back the cocking mechanism and fired. Desmond entered his Bullet-Time mode, slowing down his perception to block the bullets as they came.

He'd kept it up until the gun eventually ran out of ammo. At this point, he had an advantage over the agent, as his weapon didn't need ammo.

Standing in one place, he made a motion to call him to attack.

* * *

><p><strong>Warlord Darnell here; what do you think. Please, please, please let me know in the review box. I would love to have some reviews to it. Since you've probably been thinking what's with the multiple point of views; it's actually so you can know what's going on with each character in their place.<strong>

**Plus, I can guarentee that leaving a review will have me update faster, since I really could use the critique. It'll only cost you a few moments of your time, and the rewards will be incredible. I'm having the person who writes me the most reviews get a special prize(Not sure what, but it's BIG)**

**So if you would like to win the prize, write as many reviews to my story as you can. If you have to go back to previous chapters to do it, then go right ahead. The prize will literally be big, yet awesome. So please leave some reviews.**


	11. Hour of Reckoning

**Chapter 11: The Hour of Reckoning**

**Tank**

_He was in great pain. He tried opening his eyes, yet all he saw was red. It was as if everything was in one of those deep red filters had been put over his eyes._

_ Plus, the pain was almost more than he could stand. It was like he'd been hit with a sack of bricks and then shot. _

_ He had been wondering why Cypher wanted to spend so much time jacked-in alone._

_ He was trying to hand Morpheus over to the Agents, yet the why escaped him._

_ Then it hit him, the Agents wanted the codes to Zion. Only Morpheus had the codes. _

_ He had to stop Cypher, he had to get up. It seemed that the red sight was dying down. Looking up, he saw the gun on top of a table, while Cypher was busy with the controls._

_ He had to get up. He'd only been shot in the arm and leg. He could still operate, he could still save them. He just had to get up._

_ He used his right arm to push himself up, and then backed it up with the left. He could still see the gun on the table. _

_ He lunged up, making it as fluid a motion as he could. It hurt like hell. He grabbed the gun, and pointed it at Cypher, before quickly shooting him._

_ Putting on the headset, he sat down in the operators chair, and started to get to work. _

**Desmond**

Brown was relentless in his blows. Always trying to land a punch, it seemed like the guy was trying to be faster.

Desmond had not been able to even slice the guy right. Whenever Desmond managed to get a slash in, it seemed like Brown had managed to stop the blade by grabbing the flat sides.

Desmond was growing frustrated. He wanted to just go medieval on him, just slash in an uncontrollable manner.

However, Desmond had to fight smarter. It seemed that Brown would continue to fight, blocking whenever he slashed with his weapon.

Desmond slashed right, and kicked left. Brown had blocked his right slash, yet fell to the fact that he'd been unable to block.

An idea popped into Desmond's head. If he could perhaps have two weapons, then maybe he had an advantage.

He stepped back, quickly scanning the floor for an item he could use as a bashing weapon.

He spotted a wrench. Brown must have spotted it too, and tried to keep him away from it.

He ran and lunged at him. Desmond quickly stooped down, and grabbed the wrench.

Brown jumped on the side of a crate and bounced off to try to tackle him.

Desmond managed to hit Brown in the kidney with the wrench, knocking him to the other crate, and sending him back down to the floor. Desmond capitalized on this opportunity, and started beating Brown to a pulp, abandoning the sword.

**Trinity**

_ It seemed that things were going bad. She could hear Morpheus trying to escape. _

_ She looked at Neo, who appeared to be half-scared, half-angry. She only hoped that Desmond hadn't fallen to Brown. She needed to find him. _

_ They could hear Morpheus struggling to be brought away. She knew they were after the codes. _

_ She also knew the extent to where Morpheus would keep the secret to. She wished she could do __Something__. _

_ Suddenly the sound of metal-on-concrete. She hoped it was Desmond bashing Brown, and not the other way. She needed to help him._

_ "Neo, we're going to help him. Let's find them quick!" She said, and started to climb up the crate, Neo not far behind._

_ She could hear the sound clearly now, it was coming from the left corner. "This way," she instructed, and started to run down the tops of the shipping containers, with Neo not far behind. _

_ When she saw the source of the sound; she couldn't believe what she saw._

**Desmond**

At this point, Desmond let go of control, and after breaking several ribs, and possibly rupturing the lungs, he started to bash the face.

At this point, Desmond saw not Agent Brown, but his bandmate Jason. The anger that Jason wouldn't let any girls in the band to sing backup, the fact that covers were often more profitable, and the fact that the original band idea of Throwback Rock was shot down in favor of a Speed-Metal Band.

He continued bashing Brown, to the point where blood started coming out, splashing his face.

He had to keep going, letting the program live wasn't an option. He bashed until he finally heard a crack come from the head.

At this point, he'd run out of anger, low on rage. The idea that he was being watched was falling in.

However, he kept on going. If it was Smith and Jones, he wanted to at least bring one down with him.

He spun the heavy end to a reverse grip, and made a stabbing motion; the result of which fatally wounding Brown.

He looked up, and saw a different sight. Staring at the act, it seemed that Trinity and Neo were watching the act.

They both looked shocked. Desmond realized what he had done. He'd killed. He felt awful.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." He said, picking up his sword, and sheathing it.

"Well, I need you guys out of there" Tank's voice said.

Desmond looked up. Tank was nowhere to be found. "I'm bringing you outta there, we've got a problem." Tank continued.

They were brought out of the Matrix and back into the real world.


	12. A New Plan

**Chapter 12: A New Plan**

Desmond saw himself back in the chair, and immediately got up. Tank was the only one in the Operator's chair. It seemed that there was blood on the floor, coming from the operators chairs.

Desmond couldn't believe all of the death that seemed to be around him. It was like he was in a horror movie, yet this time, it was the blood and death that scared him.

He wished that it was over, yet it wouldn't be over until it was _over_. Desmond felt awful. It was like the whole world was against him.

He heard a soothing voice. "I know it's hard to kill." Trinity said. "I personally had to kill guards to a place on my first mission. I know how hard it can be to actually kill." She said, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.

"Des," Neo added "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." He said. "I remember the time we had a talk about The Matrix." He continued "How We'd always thought that there was something more to this world then what we saw. You said that if I'd ever found out what it was, you'd wanted to see it too. That was the basis for my reasoning to free your mind." He paused and grinned slightly "It was also the reasoning behind your _**Mind Control**_ Album booklet. You'd written your ideas into it. I guess you were right."

Desmond couldn't believe how right both of them were. He'd wanted to think about it for a moment, yet was interrupted by Tank.

"Just want you all to know, that Morpheus is in trouble still. I hope that you all have a plan with this." He said.

"We can surprise them. I doubt that they can take a three-on-two." Desmond said.

"That sounds good, but you technically outnumber them one and a half to one." Tank commented, "However, I say we let the first mate decide the plan. She is next in line after all" he said, motioning to Trinity.

"I'm game with Desmond's plan. You let me grab Morpheus, and we'll let them both go through with distracting the Agents. Then, you can bring them back, and we can get out of here." She replied.

"Well, you guys gotta hurry, because there are Sentinel's on their way." Tank said. "I'll send you guys to the sewers, because that's where they've taken him. Just jack-in and you'll be there."

They did, and there was no going back now.


	13. Endgame

**Chapter 13: Endgame**

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It stank to high heaven. Then he felt the water. It was up to his calves, and still managed to get through his pant fabric and into his combat boots.

How he wished that he had taller boots, and that the Agents could have brought Morpheus to a different location; perhaps an abandoned apartment building.

He then heard Trinity's voice from his hip. Looking down, he saw that a walkie-talkie had been put there.

"Desmond, are you there? Desmond, please copy. Over." She said. He grabbed the walkie-talkie from his waist and pressed the call button.

"This is Desmond, I copy. Where am I exactly? Over." He replied. "You're in the right pipe leading to the T-junction where they're keeping Morpheus. Up ahead is a turn that will take you to the exact end of the T-junction. I'll give you and Neo a signal with the alert button. At that point, you are going to run in and unload on the Agents. I've had Tank give you an Uzi; it's in a holster placed on your hip. Find it, wait for the signal, and be careful not to shoot Morpheus when you do. Over and out." She instructed.

He looked inside of his jacket, and found it. It seemed that there was a holster with an Uzi inside of his jacket around his waist, clipped onto his belt.

He drew the weapon, and cocked it. He then waited; though it wasn't for long.

He heard a long beep. This was the signal. Making his way to the corner, he then heard the screams.

Morpheus had been shot in the leg. Kneecapped, and there was blood.

Desmond saw the form of Neo on the other end. Morpheus was also had his back turned to the long part of the T-junction.

After taking aim, he then fired. He shot Jones in the arm, and continued to shoot him, though he was only able to get hits on the arms and legs.

Trinity could be seen at this point dragging Morpheus' chair. Neo wasn't so lucky.

Desmond could see Smith shoot Neo three times in the chest. Desmond was shocked, yet he knew the mission had to continue.

Pulling back, he took cover behind the corner. It seemed to buy him time. He hoped that Trinity performed her part of the rescue right.

**Trinity**

_ She grabbed Morpheus' chair and started to drag it backwards. He was still in pain, yet he was also confused._

_ "It's me sir," she said, still dragging the chair. "I've come to rescue you." _

_ Morpheus looked slightly relived, and slightly scared, and had his mouth look like someone had given him candy that was too sour. She had never seen this side of him, and honestly hoped never to see it again._

_ Setting the chair down, she took a switchblade and cut the ropes, glad that she could get them out of there._

_ Reaching for the walkie-talkie, she set it to channel 13. Pressing the call button, she announced "The package is retrieved, extraction is now needed."_

_ Tank's voice responded "You've got it sister."_

_She and Morpheus then phased out. Returning to the real world, they just needed to get Desmond and Neo out._

_Tank spoke up. "I'm glad you two are out, yet Desmond's trapped, and Neo's out cold." _

_ She couldn't believe it. She knew there had to be something she could do. Then it came to her._

_ She walked over to Neo's chair, leaned down, and kissed him. "Now get up and finish it."_

**Desmond**

Trapped in a corner, he knew that there was no other option then to go down fighting. He checked the ammo in his Uzi; half full.

He knew that he couldn't win, yet would rather go down fighting. Drawing the sword and holding it in a reverse grip, he then grabbed the Uzi, cocked it, and ran to the T-junction.

"This is for Neo!" he yelled, opening fire on the Agents. They just stood there and dodged the bullets, moving in Bullet-time.

Then the strangest thing happened. He saw Neo get up, and stop Desmond's shots in Bullet-time.

For a moment, everything was perfectly still, before the stream resumed. Neo had sent the bullets back at the Agents, hitting them perfectly.

For a second, Desmond just stared. Then, he saw Neo make a motion with his hands, and Smith phased out.

Jones however, just stood there in disbelief. "I suggest that you run now." Neo said. "That's assuming that you'd like to live."

It didn't take much convincing to get the intended effect. Jones just ran away down the long end of the T-junction.

"I suggest that you two get outta there, we've gotta go." Tank's voice said through the walkie-talkies.


	14. TransitionTraveling Home

**Chapter 14: Transition/Traveling Home**

**Trinity**

_ It had actually worked. It seemed that the victory was achieved, and Smith_ _was gone. _

_ "You better not tell anyone about what I just did." She said. "You've got my silence." Morpheus answered._

_ "Secret's safe with me too." Tank added. "I'm bringing them out now." He announced._

**Desmond**

As he arrived back in the real world and removed himself from the spike, it seemed that things worked.

He had completed his first mission. He also seen firsthand Neo's capabilities as The One.

"That was incredible!" He exclaimed. "Neo just woke up, and then stopped the bullets in the air. I can't believe it!"

Neo looked at him for a second, then said, "Well, before that, this guy took down an Agent on his own. You should have seen this guy back at the warehouse though. He brutalized Brown; just beat the stuffing out of him."

"Yeah, well it took a while to even bring him down." Desmond explained.

"Well, we still need to get out of here." Tank announced. It didn't take long for that to be dealt with though.

Morpheus took the controls and brought the Neb away from the place. Out the window, they could clearly see the sentinels try to catch up with them.

It took a while to get away. A lot of turns, causing Desmond to become nauseous.

When they finally set down, it seemed that a new mood had formed about things with Neo.

From what they saw, it seemed that without a shadow of a doubt, Neo was the Chosen one.

"I say we go back to Zion" Morpheus announced. "If the course we take is correct, we should be there in three days."

Desmond couldn't believe what Morpheus just said. He was ready to see what it was like. He was ready to start a new life. Perhaps with Neo as his roommate and Trinity as his girlfriend.

For a while, Desmond had the idea to write a song for her, and name it after her. It worked for practically every male musician he could think of.

He rattled off examples like Tom Scholtz writing a song for his singer friend Brad Delp's crush Amanda, and helping his friend win his future wife. He then thought of Sting and this girl Roxanne he was after as an argument against.

He also needed an instrument, due to the fact that he would otherwise be writing a poem without it.

He also knew that Neo would probably steal the song. Neo was musically challenged; meaning his creative spark with music was nonexistent, and had a wide spectrum of tastes. Neo had been looking at Trinity too, yet if Desmond would get anywhere, he'd have to win her over in a grand move.

Back in The Matrix, he had a move where he'd give the girl a big smooch, usually after date one. Every time with that, they'd kiss him back, and there would be a sensual moment.

However, knowing Trinity, she would kill him on the spot. Yet, it would be worth it, to feel her lips against his would make it worth it though.

In his room, he was busy writing guitar sheet music. However, he could write all the notes and chords he wanted, yet he would never be able to see if they work without a guitar.

Time passed for hours on end. However, wishing he could perhaps see her face, for inspiration.

Getting off of his bed, and making his way to her room, he stepped into a rather sensitive situation.

Trinity was crying. So much so, that her eyes were red, and the mattress was soaked.

"It just happened so quickly." She sobbed. "And I just stood there powerless to do anything."

Desmond was unsure of exactly what to say, yet he knew what to do. As he took a seat next to her, she leaned in towards his shoulder and just cried.

Desmond wrapped his arms around her, knowing that she still needed to cry, and most likely someone to hold her.

"And Switch didn't even stand a chance. It was like she couldn't put up a fight, the way Cypher just unplugged her. The last thing I got to say to her was to go check the door!" She continued, letting the tears just flow.

Desmond knew exactly how she felt. He also knew what to say. "I know exactly what you mean Trin. I had a friend during high school, and we would always go to parties. One night, he was really drunk, and he got in the car and started to drive. I remember telling him to be careful, when I should have just wrestled the keys from his hands. He drove straight into a semi a few minutes later. He died on the spot. I felt so awful." He explained. "The pain doesn't quite go away, yet the best thing we can do, is to remember them. Remember all of the good times, all of the times we wanted to strangle them for being so stupid sometimes, and remember what they meant to us. I remember asking to play Amazing Grace at the funeral. They let me play it on the guitar. His folks said he would have wanted that. Now I'm sure that they are in a better place. Up in the Great Gig in the Sky we know as Heaven." He ended.

Trinity had stopped crying at this point, and just looked at him with awe. It seemed that his rambling helped.

"Thanks Des, that really helped." She said, and hugged him. "I'm always here if you need me Trin, always." He said, hugging her back. He always seemed to have a way with words.

"I never got the privilege of knowing them, but I sure wish I did. I know that they will always live on in our hearts." He said.

She looked up at him, and they both made eye contact. He saw deep into those baby blues, and saw a woman who was tough on the outside, yet also sensitive on the inside. He was sure she was thinking similar things involving him.

They leaned forward, slowly, sure of the other person's intent. She turned her head left, and he turned his head right.

Then their lips met. Desmond savored the salty feel of lips, wet after being soaked in tears.

The kiss continued to the point where they slowly opened their mouths, and inserted the tongue.

Unfortunately, a familiar presence broke the moment. "Wow," Tank said "Never thought I'd see the day."

They broke off the kiss, and looked at Tank. He had bandages around his arm and leg where he was shot, and was holding himself up with crutches.

"What do you want?" Desmond yelled. "Well, personally I wouldn't have minded if you kept going." Tank answered. "I'm sure that Morpheus and Neo would like to hear about this.

Trinity looked shocked "You better not!" She yelled. "I'll…" Tank interrupted her threat. "Well, as much as a threat would keep me in line, the easier thing to do is to perhaps bribe me. I've always wanted read what's in your diary you keep under your mattress."

Desmond was confused, both at the fact that Trinity has a diary, and the fact that Tank would be using these kinds of tactics.

"Fine, you get five minutes." She said, reaching under the mattress and pulling out a medium-thick black hardcover diary. As she handed it to Tank, she seemed mostly annoyed.

"Where's all of the dirt! This is just a log of events, it's like you don't even have any emotions." Tank commented, flipping through the pages.

"Well, it's technically a journal." She said, looking at a clock on the wall. "I personally don't really care about writing that down."

"Here, my lips are sealed on this matter," Tank said "This was a waste of time." He then started to hobble away, grumbling.

"You keep a journal?" Desmond asked. "And you hide it under the mattress like it's a precious diary."

Trinity nodded. "I prefer to keep it where I can find it. I'm sure that you'd understand."

"Yeah," Desmond answered "Now where were we." He said in a slightly seductive manner. He leaned in, yet just received two fingers on his lips.

"I'm not in the mood anymore. Plus, I think it's time for another lesson." She explained.

"Huh," Desmond responded, caught off guard, "Oh, your singing lessons, right."

"Yeah, so what's it going to be on this time?" she asked. "Am I going to start working on lyrics, still practice my scales, what's it gonna be?"

Desmond paused for a moment, wondering what the next lesson would be. Then the idea came to see her progress, then maybe try having her sing lyrics.

"Alright Trin, let's hear your scales. Up, then back down." He answered.

Trinity cleared her throat, then started. " Do-Re-Mi-Fi-So-La-Ti-Do Do-Ti-La-So-Fi-Mi-Re-Do "

Desmond was awestruck. It seemed that she'd really been practicing. "Well, done." He said, clapping his hands. "I see that you've really been practicing. How about we start singing lyrics."

"Okay, what do you want me to sing?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Well, let's try something you're familiar with." He said. "Are there any songs you know all the way through?"

She paused for a moment, thinking really hard. She kept on thinking for a while, growing slightly more frustrated with each passing moment.

"Well, are there any chorus lines that you know completely? Everyone's at least familiar with the chorus line." He said.

Trinity thought for a moment, before saying "I know most of that Boston song I sang the other day; More Than a Feeling."

Desmond thought for a moment, hoping that she would do some service to the song, before saying; "Let's hear it."

Trinity breathed in, and began. " I looked up this morning, noticed summer's gone Turned on some music, to start my day Then lost myself, in a song I closed my eyes and I slipped awaaay " She then paused, almost as if to allow the guitar to come in, before continuing, letting Desmond sing backup " It's more than a feeling _More than a feeling _It's defiantly something, it's _** More than a feeling**_ And I thinkin' dreamin' _It's more than a feeling _ It's definatly I walked alooone "

At the end of that, she stopped singing, and admitted "That's all I know."

"That was beautiful. Thanks for letting me sing backup." Desmond said. "Keep practicing though, you were a little flat at some points in the song."

Trinity just stared at him. "I was flat?" she said. "Yeah," Desmond replied. "It was during the last part, the very last word. You were a little flat. Other than that though, you were good." Desmond then flinched, expecting a blow.

"Huh," She said, before practicing the word, trying to get it right. It was a bit hard for her to get it just right though as she tried. Each time, it was either a little sharp or flat.

"Well, I think that's enough for today. Let's end with our scales." Desmond announced.

They both went through the scales, before they left the room. They ran into Neo, who was just out of the jack-in chairs, saying that he could fly over and over again.

The rest of the trip back went smooth, with a singing lesson for Trinity each day, and Neo spending some time jacked-in.


	15. A New HomeLifeStart

**Chapter 15: A New Home/Life/Start**

Arriving at Zion, Desmond looked out one of the portholes with Neo. Both men were anxious to see what it was Zion was like.

Desmond saw a person operating a mech-suit put away two guns on his back. He also saw the docks.

Incredible as it was, Desmond couldn't help but feel at home. It was almost like the days when he was a little kid. He remembered the three occasions "Rich Uncle Armel" would come over. Of course the last time that happened, Desmond was five years old. Twenty years later, he barely even remembered what Uncle Armel looked like.

As the Neb docked, Desmond felt content. Grabbing his stuff from his room on the Neb. He followed Trinity and Neo.

It appeared that him and Neo had quite a few fans. The two different types of attention they received helped determine what.

While people seemed to revere Neo, people gave a more mild form of respect; the type that war-heroes get.

People asked Neo to watch over their relatives, while Desmond received salutes, and got the title of "Agent-Slayer" or "Agent-Bane."

Desmond loved the fact that he got the war-hero status. He also saw on monitors the two battles. Most of the time, it was Neo's grand finish, yet he saw clips of _his _fight with Brown.

It also seemed that while Desmond's back was turned during the incident, Brown's body flashed white, and disappeared. How he wished he'd noticed it.

Eventually, they got to the elevator. "You two will both be staying at my apartment. I'm putting you two in separate bedrooms." She explained.

Both men were shocked. "I thought that…" was all Neo managed to say, before the elevator stopped and a rather familiar, nasaly female voice was heard behind the door.

"Oh shit!" Neo said. "I never thought that she was here." Desmond looked at Neo for a moment, before coming to the same realization. As the Elevators opened, a familiar sister entered.

"Oh, Mai Gawd, Dezmond, I thought I'd never see you here of all places." Desdemona Kingston said, embarking the elevator.

"I'm confused." Trinity said "Who exactly are you?" Desmond knew that things would go downhill if he didn't do something fast.

"Why, this is my sister, Desdemona." He said. "Desda, you already know Neo," he motioned to the other man. "Yet you haven't met Trinity. Trinity, Desdemona. Desdemona, Trinity." He continued.

Both women shook hands, yet during this time, Trinity stared daggers at the other woman, already assuming the "I don't like her" disposition.

"Desmond, I remember hearing the missing person notice for Neo, and I knew that you had to have been the one to report it. Then your landlady contacts the police about _you_ being missing. I'm so shocked, and I just have to find out what this is about, so I grab the key to your apartment you gave me, and try checking it out. I look on Neo's computer, and find so many search engines doing searches on The Matrix. Next thing I know, I find a bunch of emails on your laptop, saying "The Matrix has you". I go home that night, and start to blog on what I just saw, and then I meet Cryptic, Crash, and Code, who then free me; telling me firsthand what The Matrix was. Then I get here, and you're already a war-hero…" She rambled.

At this point however, Desmond and Neo both just nodded, tuning her out. Trinity however just kept on listening, and was already growing bored.

"So, are there any lady's I should know about bro?" his sister asked. Desmond was about to answer, when Trinity did that for him. "Why are you interested in that fact? Why can't the man's love life not be the topic of a conversation with his sister? I think you've had enough of being here." Trinity said, stopping the elevator, opening the door, and pushing the female-Desmond-lookalike out, before promptly shutting it.

"That conversation was getting old fast." Trinity commented. Both guys just stared at her, dumbstruck by her pest-removal technique. Trinity turned around, and still received the same look. "What, you've never kicked your sister out of somewhere? I used to do the same thing to my little brother back in the Matrix." She explained.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." Desmond answered, opening the door, and walking onto the level they left Desdemona on. She was already walking away, sobbing.

"Desda, wait." He said, catching up to her. "I'm sorry for the way she treated you."

She simply turned around. "It's just like school all over again. I never had any friends, and always had to hang out with yours." She said. "I don't know why this always had to happen Desmond."

"It's not that. It's just that Trinity, she's my girlfriend and all, yet she doesn't like to talk about it in front of people." He explained. "It's not that she doesn't like you, it's just that she simply doesn't want to talk about our relationship with other people." He said. "You two just got off on the wrong foot's all that happened."

She smiled. "Really Des, that's all?" he nodded. "Now come on, let's try this again."

**Trinity**

_ When Desmond shut the doors behind him, it was like the School all over again. Desmond and Desdemona. Even though they were a grade above her, she always noticed that they were never apart. She always hung out with the guys. _

_ However, with Desmond out rectifying the situation, she had some make out time with Neo._

_ "Do you know how I revived you?" She asked, adding a slight seductive tone to her voice. _

_ Neo nodded. "Well, how about I give you another one?" She said. Neo didn't need much of a hint. He leaned in quickly, locking his lips with hers._

_ Not that she didn't mind. Quite the contrary; She thought his straightforward attitude was rather sexy. _

_ For some reason, his lips tasted like the strange breakfast he made for the crew; Shrimp fried rice. _

_ As he opened his mouth to insert tongue, she caught a blast of his breath. _

_ She backed away, pushing against him with her hands. "You need to brush Neo." She explained. Neo seemed a little hurt, before he breathed on his hand and smelled it to check his breath; gagging afterwards._

_ "Told you," She said. "however, there might be more once you do."_

_She barely had time to finish the seductive comment when the doors opened._

**Desmond**

"I don't think that you two got off on the right foot Trin." Desmond said, opening the door to reveal her facing Neo. "Now, I think that you two could be very good friends, if you simply tried." He explained.

"Well, I'm so glad to finally meet the Trinity who hacked the IRS-d base." Desdemona said.

Trinity turned around. "How did you know about that?" She asked. "Well," Desdemona explained. "I remember hearing how Neo was wondering if you were a guy or girl, saying that he always wanted to meet the great Trinity. I personally thought that I could crack the other three IRS-letter bases, and those soon became the latest targets to TBCCS."

"TBCCS?" Trinity asked. "Just the latest software I developed to try to crack those bases." Desdemona answered "I wrote them based off of your achievement and the residual fingerprints you left all over the base. I reconstructed that, and used the program to get all of the other three bases cracked on its own. Last I checked, all it had left was the A and B-bases."

The conversation was hot between the two women after that. By the time the elevator had started going down, Desmond knew that they would be the best of friends.


	16. The Apartment

**Chapter 16: The Apartment**

After they dropped Desdemona off at her floor, they continued to go down further.

"I know what you're thinking about her Neo." Desmond said. Neo suddenly tensed up "You like my sister don't you?" He said.

"The farthest thing from it." Neo said. "She scares me."

Desmond looked at his friend unsure of what to say next. It was as if everything he'd worked for with the guy was worthless.

"She's always hitting on me," Neo explained, "And she tries to flirt, and oh snap, she's got her hand on my knee."

Desmond and Trinity just stared at him. "I think her attraction to me started back when you had me practice flirting with her back in the Matrix. If you had just come to terms with the fact that I like to hack and that is not related to the fact that I'm still a virgin, and my sign happens to be Virgo. I swear, you try to get me laid, when I'm perfectly fine." Neo said.

Desmond and Trinity both continued to stare. Then Desmond started to snicker. "Dude, if you let that fact leak out about you, then you will have no problem getting laid." Desmond explained, still wearing a big shitty grin.

The elevator dinged, stopping. As the doors opened, Trinity said "We're here guys."

They walked out of the elevator and followed Trinity, who took them to the farthest door on the hall.

"Here we are boys, our new home." She said, opening the door.

It was a big room, with a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and three bedrooms.

"I used to have two roommates, but you know what happened to them. I've got the center bedroom, you two can decide which bedroom you want." She said, making her way to the center bedroom.

Desmond and Neo both said "Right side" three times, before they once again decided to let rock-paper-scissors decide.

This time it was three out of five. This time, the outcome favored Neo; who proceeded to jump up and down.

Desmond just walked away and put his stuff down in his new bedroom. It seemed that this one had a futon in it, so it was point one for him. Futons were way more comfortable than a bed anyways.

Unpacking his stuff, he thought about what this all meant now that his sister was freed. If she knew where he lived in this reality too, then things would get really bad.

Then again, if his sister knew where he lived, then it would be a good way to annoy _Neo_. He'd just realized now that Neo was scared of his sister, and that he could threaten him with her. Plus, she and Trinity got along really well. Unlike all of his other girlfriends, she actually liked my sister.

He heard the door open, and heard Neo say "I'm going for a walk."

It was now the perfect opportunity to score some quality make-out time with Trinity.

Making his way to her room, he saw her wrapping up something square, and noticed a rather familiar-looking shape in a set of wrapping paper.

"I'm just wrapping up Neo's gift." She said. "Yours is over there, yet I don't think that you two should open your gifts until the other gets back."

"Okay." Desmond said "I was thinking of how great a chance it is to, I dunno, make a duet?" He walked in, and swept her off of her feet, holding her bridal-style.

"Oh, Desmond, I forgot how smooth you are. However, I'm just not in the mood." She said, just sitting there in his arms. "I'd appreciate it if you'd put me down, or else it'll be the face." She added, now wearing a serious look.

He put her down, wondering where he went wrong. The move should have worked, yet it didn't. However, she admitted it was smooth.

She then finished wrapping Neo's present. It didn't take long, and she then finished unpacking. "I was just thinking of showing you around Zion. How about we go to this one restaurant I found last time I was here. Switch, Mouse and I would go there all the time, just us girls. It's really fun, they serve Asian food, and I'm wondering whether you or Neo would eat more. It's one of those all you can eat places, just pay and you literally can have all you can eat. It's really fun. I think you two would enjoy it. I was thinking we could go there for lunch? Wanna grab Neo and go?" She said.

Desmond's stomach growled. "All you can eat?" he asked. Trinity nodded.

"Well let's get the guy and go." He said, grabbing his coat from his suitcase and heading for the door. He stopped and held it open for Trinity. "After you me lady." He said.

They quickly found Neo right outside the door, playing tick-tack-toe with a rooster.

"You won't believe how many times he's beaten me." He said, before he drew an O and lost.

"We're going out to lunch, all you can eat Asian food." Desmond explained. At the sound of "all you can eat," and "Asian food" Neo immediately got up.

Desmond remembered how much Neo _loved_ rice. He figured that this would become Neo's new favorite place to eat, next to Green Dragon Chinese Buffet.

On the way there, it seemed that Neo had quite the fan following, and was even asked to bless someone.

When they arrived, they were in for quite a surprise.


	17. Lunch

**Chapter 17: Lunch**

The name of the establishment was rather nondescript: Taste of Asia. Yet the smell that came from it was it's selling point. It was like a hibachi restaurant, Sushi Bar, Chinese Buffet, Mongolian Barbecue, and a Thai food take-out restaurant were all forced into the same building.

Stepping inside, the staff was one that seemed to say a bunch also. It was like stepping into the Asia section at the UN back in the day, represented by every Asian ethnicity there was.

"Konichiwa, if it isn't Trinity." The hostess said. "Let me take you to your seat. The usual booth?" she asked.

Trinity nodded. "Well, follow me then" the hostess instructed, leading them to a booth in the corner right next to the buffet.

The waiter came right after. "Trinity! I see someone's made friends in high places." He said. Their waiter was a scrawny teenage male who appeared to be a Zion-born. "The usual sour soda for you I take it?" He asked.

Trinity nodded. "And how about a special dragonfruit soda for the war-hero and chosen one, on the house." The waiter said.

"Sure." Neo answered. "I'm game for that." Desmond added.

"I'll be out with your drinks in just a minute. Help yourself to the buffet, just don't waste anything." The waiter said before walking away.

Desmond was hungry, having skipped Neo's homemade breakfast this morning, knowing full well that Neo couldn't cook to save his life.

Making his way to the buffet, he grabbed a plate, and started to serve himself lo-mein noodles, and went to the teriyaki pork, when an all-too-familiar nasaly voice came up from behind.

"Desmond, I never thought that I'd see you here." Desdemona said.

Desmond turned around. "Desda, what a pleasant surprise." He replied, trying really hard to mask his annoyance. "What brings you here?" he asked.

"Well," she answered "Code, Cryptic, and Crash are treating me to this place. For some reason they've all been really polite, and all stumble over each other and get all clumsy around me. You wouldn't know why would you?"

Desmond knew exactly what she was talking about. The three men obviously were crushing over her. However, he knew better than to bring the fact up.

"No," he answered "I'm afraid I'm not sure what's happening. I think that they are probably just a bunch of idiots."

"Well, Captain Niobe seems to think that things would be better off if I was transferred to the Neb. If everything goes well, then it can be the Des-Twin-Team all over again." She answered "Isn't that great?"

Desmond's heart stopped for a moment. It was bad enough before they left the house, yet having to live on board the Neb with his sister would be torture. He was sure that either him or Neo would go mad within the first day.

"Yeah, that's perfect." Desmond said, wearing a fake grin on the way back to the booth.

He noticed Trinity walking back, and stood up at the table waiting for her to sit down first.

"Desmond, you look like you've just seen a ghost. Is everything okay?" Trinity asked.

"Just found out that there's a possibility Desdemona will be transferred to the Neb." He answered, eating at his food like a robot.

"Tell me that's not true Des, tell me it's a joke." Neo said, looking up from his plate of rice-centered food.

"I kid you not. If all goes well for her, she's going to be one of the newest members of the Neb." He answered. "If that happens, I want you to shoot me Neo."

"Why would you want him to shoot you?" Trinity asked, looking up from her Mongolian barbecue "I thought you loved your sister?"

"I do, it's just I sometimes can't stand her. She's so annoying." Desmond answered. "And she's always trying to boss me around on the basis that she's ten minutes older than me. If you ever get her to laugh, you will want to gouge your eyes out with a spoon; that's how annoying her laugh is."

Trinity just looked shocked. "I never thought I'd ever hear a man rag on his own sister." She said. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"You're lucky that she's your sister Des," Neo added "Because she's always trying to flirt with me, and she really sucks at it. She also makes the corniest jokes."

Trinity looked appalled, jaw completely dropped. "I at least had the courtesy to say goodbye to my little brother the night I was freed." She said, shocked.

"I love her to death Trin" Desmond clarified "it's just that I sometimes can't stand her." He then started to eat again "I'm sure you understand."

"You are crazy Des, I'm amazed that you can love her, yet _sometimes_ not stand her." She said.

They continued to eat, with the topic of family dominating the conversation.


	18. The Meetings

**Chapter 18: The Meeting**

After they finished lunch, they went with Trinity to a meeting. It was one being held by the council, and they were told that everyone who's part of a ship's crew or captain has to be there.

They arrived and found that it was a stadium of sorts. They followed Trinity to a seat with the rest of the crew.

Then the meeting began. "We have called this meeting to address the problem, and the facts that are present. We have received news that an army of sentinels is amassing and moving forward by the day. We also are here to address the claim that Morpheus has found The One." A council leader explained.

At the mention of "The One", people began to cheer. "Order, order." The council head protested, banging a gavel of sorts. "Now, we will address these facts here. I understand that things are going bad in The Matrix also. We have received news that Agent Smith is back." He said, before receiving a more negative reaction from everybody.

"Order, order, we will have order in this meeting." The head protested yet again.

Desmond had to speak up. "If I may make a motion your honors." He said.

"The council denies the motion made by D. Kingston." The head announced, banging the gavel yet again. "You may be considered a war hero to the masses, yet to us, you are simply a soldier. Moving on."

However, it seemed that the people there had different opinion, chanting "Let him speak, let him speak."

"The council acknowledges the opinion of the people, yet denies the floor to Desmond Kingston. Moving on."

Desmond felt so crushed. All he was going to say was that he saw Neo delete Smith himself, and asked who could have spotted the program.

"On our previous subject, the return of Smith, we have confirmation of this by the crew of the GlowFly. They have seen the program return, and take down half of their crew." The head of the council said. "We have reason also to believe that the machines are amassing an army to destroy Zion. Moving on, we are asking that all hovercraft remain in order to aid in the onslaught."

"I'd like to make a motion." Morpheus spoke up.

"The council recognizes the motion made by Captain Morpheus, who now has the floor. What is it you wish to speak of Captain." The one on the right said.

Morpheus cleared his throat. "I know that there is an army of sentinels amassing. I also know that we've found The One. The Oracle prophesied that he would bring peace between us and the machines. Yet we know that may not happen if we don't mount a stand." Morpheus paused, then continued. "We live in great times now. More minds are being freed than ever before. I have a strategy that can bring peace. I ask that one ship remain behind to contact the oracle. If I could have that, then perhaps we could stem the tide."

The one on the left was angry "I refuse to allow such. As supreme commander, I refuse."

The one on the center had other ideas. "Commander Lock, if you have other opinions save them for the vote. Minister Howards, what is you vote on this."

The one on the right answered, "I vote opposite from Commander Lock."

"As do I" replied the one in the center "I will allow the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar to contact the oracle. Everyone else knows their parts. Meeting adjourned." He banged the gavel the hardest.

Desmond gulped at what this could mean, yet knew this meant. Walking out with Trinity and Neo, he knew that this wouldn't be good.

"Desmond, bro are you okay?" Desdemona said from behind. She caught up, moving slightly ahead before moving back to match his pace. "You look like you've just seen a ghost bro."

"I just found out that I'm going to be on the forefront of a special mission. I only assume that the mission will be dangerous." He answered, furthering the pit feeling in his gut.

"Don't worry Desmond, I'm going to be part of the crew of the Neb with you. I've joined with Link as part of the crew. I've got your back Des, I always do." She said.

Desmond could have sworn he heard Neo say "Fuck" when she said she'd be part of the crew.

"Come on bro, relax. The official orders don't start until tomorrow. Let's have a little fun now." She said, shaking him slightly.

Desmond couldn't help but be cheered up. "It's just like that time I got stood up freshman year. Back at home, unable to take the girl on the date, you still managed to cheer me up sis. Thanks." He said, wrapping her in a hug.

"You're welcome bro" she said, as the hug ended. "Hey, what's the difference between pornography and art?" She asked, starting another one of her "Infamous Odd Jokes."

"I don't know, what's the difference." Trinity asked for Desmond. Desdemona answered "A government grant."

Neo broke into hysterics at the punch line, as did Desmond. For a dirty riddle, it was pretty good. Desdemona laughed also, "He-eh-eh-eh-ehe." She went for a good three minutes, laughing at her own joke.

"Okay sis, the joke ended, now how about going to find Morpheus, I'm sure he'd like to hear it." Desmond replied. This sent her off to go find Morpheus.

"I didn't know he would want to hear it." Neo added after Desdemona left. "He probably wouldn't" Desmond answered "I had her go do that so that she'd leave us alone for a while."

"Nice going Des," Neo answered "I should have thought about that. What if she does find him though?"

"Well, odds are she won't. She's probably going to be looking for him for a while, and her bad sense of direction won't help her either." He answered.

"Desmond Kingston, you should be ashamed of yourself." Trinity protested. "You've just sent your sister on a goose chase. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Desmond looked at Neo, who gave him a "Not my problem" look. He thought for a moment, before saying "Would you rather her tag along, and possibly hit on Neo."

"Hey," Neo said "I agree. She always tries to flirt, and she's really bad at it. I'm also kinda afraid of her. She really creeps me out."

Trinity just shook her head, disgusted, before punching each of them in the arm. "I'm shocked at the fact that you two both try to avoid her. I personally am going to make sure you get quality time with her. I'm bringing her to the apartment. I'll meet you there in ten."

Trinity then walked off in the direction that Desdemona had taken. Both men looked at each other, and ran back in the direction of the apartment.


	19. Apartment Sessions

**Chapter 19: Apartment Sessions**

Desmond and Neo both ran past everyone to the apartment. It was a mad dash between the two men, each trying to outrun the other. Almost like a competition, with an unsure prize, yet with both trying to outrun the other.

Eventually, they reached the apartment, and both men started pushing each other, trying to keep the other from opening.

Eventually, both men had a hand on the jamb, and each pulled the latch down.

The door opened, and they continued trying to keep the other one from getting inside.

Both men dashed in after a good minute of holding the other back, and then just stared blank at each other once in.

"What the heck just happened?" Neo asked. "What were you thinking during that race?"

Desmond shrugged. "I was thinking I had to beat you there," Desmond answered "I just seemed so determined to beat you, I'm just confused as to what that was about."

"Same here." Neo replied "Something told me to keep you from the getting here first. I think it was about trying to escape your sister, but I'm confused as to why."

Desmond shrugged again "If you were thinking that, then that's all you. I was determined to get here to surprise Trinity."

Neo drew a blank "What were you planning to surprise her with? That chicken suit you supposedly wore in that dream the other night. Seriously, if you think that's going to work, expect to be boiled in oil and eaten by everyone. You saw how she went at the chicken during lunch today, she'll eat you as a snack." He exclaimed.

"I'd like that." Desmond whispered. "Huh?" Neo asked.

"Nothing, just a comment on how you drew that picture of her back on the Neb." He lied.

The picture however, was true. Desmond watched Neo draw a picture of himself and Trinity getting married, with Desmond as best man, and Morpheus as the priest.

"Oh, that's just a cartoon." Neo explained. "Got bored man, with you trying to bounce lyrics off of me for a song, I eventually start drawing stuff. You remember the picture I drew of me and your sister making out the night before I met her. The picture you drew for me with words made her seem really hot. You know I draw those things because I think they'd be funny. I drew a ton of cartoons depicting you smashing a guitar on Jason's head."

Desmond was shocked, at a side of his best friend he'd never seen. He doubted he'd seen Neo pick up a writing untensil in the five years he'd known him.

"I only draw those when I'm really bored, and when the power's out or the computer's being slow." Neo said. "I hope you don't take the images the wrong way. Plus, most of them became animations on my computer."

Desmond grinned. "Thanks for the dirt man. I'll be sure to tell Desda about the cartoon you drew involving her." He said.

Neo's jaw dropped, "You wouldn't. If you tell her…" was all he managed to say, before he was interrupted by Desdemona.

"Tell me what Neo?" She said, making her way up to him.

Desmond started to chuckle. Seeing his best friend try to keep the charade up with his sister was hilarious.

Neo had to tell her something, there was no escaping it. Especially since Desdemona would probably torture him with flirting until he said something.

Neo was shaking at this point, sweating bullets. The man really needed to grow a pair at this point.

**Neo**

_Good God, Why did you have to send her on Me Des. He kept on thinking that to himself, and the cute appearance of Desdemona didn't help either. _

_ She was quite attractive to the sighted world. She had a large pair of emerald-green eyes, as well as some very full, naturally-purple lips. She also had a nice bust, and the fact that she showed it off went perfect with her appearance. _

_ If she just took some voice coaching, then perhaps she could actually land a man._

_ "What were you going to tell me Neo?" She asked, a slight seductive tone to her otherwise painful voice. "You can tell me Neo, you big hunk of man." She said, putting her hands on his chest, and starting to move around._

_ He wished that Desmond would intervene at this point. If he was like a normal brother, he'd be mad about the fact that his sister was hitting on his best friend._

_ Why couldn't Des just be like a normal guy and forbid his friends from being attracted to his sister? _

_ "Yeah Neo, what were you going to tell my sister?" Desmond asked, "She's waiting." _

_ "Yeah, I'm waiting…" She said._

_It was time to go for broke. "I think you're a fox." He said._

**Desmond**

This was interesting. He never expected this. What Desdemona did with that was completely unexpected.

After she blushed, she then said, "You sly dog, I knew you always thought that about me."

She then kissed him on the cheek. Desmond grinned. This would probably be Neo's worst nightmare.

Neo glared at him after that. Desmond just kept grinning. "Can I talk to you in private Des?" Neo asked.

"Sure Neo." He answered. He followed Neo to his room.

"What the hell, I thought that you did have my back." He said. "You let her freakin' grill me out there."

"Well," Desmond answered "I just saw you get a kiss right there. If I was you, I'd consider yourself lucky. I bet she'd been wanting to do that for a _looong_ time."

"If I had wanted your sister…" was all he got out. Trinity walked through the door, and asked, "Can I speak to Neo alone?"

Desmond nodded and left.

**Neo**

_ He was in for it now. _

"_What the hell Neo. I thought we were exclusive." She yelled. He winced at every word._

_ "You go tell Desdemona that 'she's a fox' while you and I are in a committed relationship. What do you have to say for yourself!" she yelled._

_ He paused for a second, before answering "Des backed me into a corner with her. It was either tell her about this cartoon I drew of her, or say something like I just did to get her off my back." _

_ "Well, I see you're telling the truth." She said, "I'll hold you to it." She then walked away. "I have a gift for you and Desmond. I think you'll enjoy yours." She said._

**Desmond**

"Can you believe it Des," Desdemona was saying "Neo thinks I'm a fox. You were right about introducing us."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He also couldn't believe what Neo said. He wondered what Trinity wanted to talk alone with him for.

"So, I was wondering if you and Trinity would like to perhaps double date with me and Neo." She asked.

He turned to face her. "Sorry about your luck sis, but Neo doesn't like you that way. He really drew this cartoon of you back in the Matrix the night before he met you. It was something really stupid, but he wasn't ready to tell you about it. He came up with that probably to get you off his back." He explained. "Sorry if I crushed your dreams of a happily ever after with Neo."

Desdemona looked like she'd just lost everything. "So he doesn't think about me that way?" she asked.

"Probably has one of those types of dreams involving you, but he usually wakes up from them like he's just seen his own death. It's really not a pleasant experience for the man." He answered.

Desmond was stroking the short, spiky hair his sister currently had as he talked. It seems that she wasn't freed until just after him, possibly the night after. Yet her hair grew back at a much faster pace than his, one of the advantages women had over men.

"Des, you're the best brother ever." She said after that, wrapping him in a big hug. "I love you bro."

Desmond returned the hug "I love you too sis." He said.

"That's kinda sweet." Trinity's voice said from the hall. "It makes me really miss my kid brother right now."

Trinity then went into her room, and came out with the two gifts. "I'm sorry I don't have anything for you at the moment Desda, but I'll have something for you soon." She explained as she walked into the living room.

She handed the oddly shaped one to Desmond "I think you'll enjoy your gift Des." She said.

He started to tear at the wrapping paper. The gift was shaped a bit like an acoustic guitar. He hoped to death that it was.

Tearing at the second layer of wrapping paper, he saw a flash of wood. He then went further at the wrapping paper. In a matter of minutes, he had revealed a six-string acoustic guitar.

"Sweet, thanks Trin," Desmond said, setting the guitar on his knee and starting to play.

He had his fingering perfectly, yet the sound that came out was awful. Everyone covered their ears.

"Just needs to be tuned." He said, starting to tune the instrument. He tuned it Drop-G.

"Let's hear it now." He said, and started to strum. He played _Smoke on the water_ on the guitar. Most tunes were interchangeable between electric and acoustic instruments.

He looked at Neo, who was tearing at the wrapping paper on his square gift.

Once the guy got through the wrapping paper, it became apparent what Trinity got him. It was a mini computer.

"I know how much you like to hack, and I was sure that this would make you very happy. Especially since most of the old networks from before the fall are still up. I guess that the machines taking pity on the other computers without AI was the basis to keep them running. You can hack all you want now." She said.

"Hey, let me go get my sheet music. I'm going to play a song." Desmond said. He set the guitar down on the coffee table, and went into his room.

There on his table was a notebook with his sheet music, written TAB. He grabbed it and went back into the living room.

Setting the notebook on the couch and placing the guitar on his knee, he started to try out some of the chords he wrote.

"Okay, those don't work." He said aloud. He thought of a song he knew, and started to play it.

He strummed out a simple, acoustic tune. He then started to sing.

"_I close my eyes/ only for a moment/ and the moment's gone/ all my dreams/ pass before my eyes a curiosity/ Dust in the wind/ all we are is dust in the wind/ Same old song/ just a drop of water in an endless sea/ all we do/ crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see/ Dust in the wind/ all we are is/ dust in the wind/ Now don't hang on/ nothing last forever but the earth and sky/ It slips away/ and all your money won't another minute buy/ Dust in the wind/ all we are is dust in the wind/ all we are is dust in the wind._" He sang.

For a moment, everyone just looked at him; before Trinity started to clap. "Let's hear it for Desmond." She said.

Soon everyone was clapping. "I forgot how well you sang and played guitar." Desdemona said.

"That song is easy." He said. "I'm amazed at how muscle memory transfers from the Matrix to real life."

He set the guitar down and made himself a glass of water in the kitchen. Gulping it down, he noticed everyone was staring at him.

"It's just a song." He said "If you want an encore all you have to do is ask."

"Do you want me to sing another one again?" He asked. There was still silence.

"What is it?" he asked, making himself another glass of water. "It was just a song."

Trinity spoke up. "I don't get why we're all staring at him." She said.

Desdemona tapped Neo's shoulder "How did you meet Desmond? I always wondered that." She asked.

"Well," Desmond answered "I was in need of an apartment, and Neo had an ad for a roommate. I answered it, and that's the rest of the story."

Trinity looked at a clock, and jumped "We're nearly late for the speech. There's supposed to be this speech. Morpheus is supposed to deliver it." She explained.

"Come on, let's go." She said, dragging everyone out the door.


	20. The Truth of the Situation

**Chapter 20: The Truth of the Situation**

They followed Trinity to a sort of meeting hall. Everyone was standing around, waiting for something.

"What are we doing here?" Desdemona asked "I thought that we were here to see a speech, yet nobody's at the podium from what I can see."

Desmond looked around. It seemed that everyone in Zion was here. It was crazy.

"Let's go up front, maybe we can see something there." Desmond said. They followed him as he weaved through the crowd. Eventually, they got to a stage of sort.

The lights started to dim as Morpheus took the stage. Everyone looked at him.

Morpheus cleared his throat. "Citizens of Zion." He started "I bring grave news. An army of sentinels is tunneling it's way to here, and due to arrive in 71 hours." Most everyone gasped. "Yet we know that they do not stand a chance. We will show them that we are not afraid!" people cheered "Let us shake these halls of earth, metal, and stone with the force of our celebration, for we are not afraid!"

At this point, music from drums started to play. Everyone started to dance. It was like a massive party.

Desmond looked at Trinity. "May I have this dance?" he asked.

Trinity paused for a moment, looking first to Neo, and then back at him. "Sure Des." She answered.

Desmond bowed, twirling his hand. Trinity just looked at him, before making a crude curtsey.

They then started to dance. It was one that had a lot of jumping, mixed slightly with grinding. It was rather improvised, yet felt so right.

**Neo**

_ He looked at Desdemona. She looked at him. "May I have this dance?" he asked, stumbling over his words in a fashion worse than stuttering. _

_ "Sure Neo" she answered. _

_They danced in a similar manner to the way Desmond and Trinity were. If he could dance with his girlfriend like that, then perhaps he could do the same thing to his friend's sister._

_ The pace they were at was frenzied. Desdemona led the dance for him, at a pace he was struggling to match. It was like he was running a marathon at high speed. _

**Desmond**

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Neo dancing with Desdemona.

Good for him. It sure would mean a lot to her. However, he was currently preoccupied with his current dance with Trinity.

Trinity sure had incredible stamina. He was struggling just to keep up. It was frenzied, and the fact he had the first dance with his girlfriend made it all worthwhile.

The party went deep into the night. Eventually, everyone went back to their apartments, resting for the night.

**Trinity**

_She couldn't believe herself. She had managed to promise both men with the possibility of intercourse._

_ As she walked with them back to the apartment. Lucky for her, she'd promised it to both men at slightly different times. _

_ They reached the apartment after dropping Desdemona off at her floor. _

_ She went into her room, and waited until both men went to their rooms. _

_ She knew that she was in for quite a night if the rumors that sex wore you out. _

**Neo**

_He couldn't believe what was going to happen as he waited in his room. Trinity promised that she'd give Desmond a good five minutes to fall asleep._

_ He stared at the clock for the first two minutes, before realizing that was the most unsexy thing you could do while waiting for that. _

_ Remembering the lessons Desmond would give him, how it was important to set the mood for a lady while you waited. _

_ What he'd give for rose petals, or perhaps some music. He remembered that the music played would often help set the pace for the way the night was going. Slow music would help, though he was told that a nice fast, rock and roll song would help with the things he imagined himself doing for her. _

_ Checking the clock, it seemed that only a minute went by. He noticed a CD player, a box of CDs, and some candles. _

_ He looked through the CDs. There was a lot of smooth jazz. He remembered that this room was first Mouse's. He shuddered at the thought that came to him._

_ Finding a book of matches, he set out the candles, lighting them one by one. The candles had been used, a lot._

_ Finding an Al Greene CD, he set it in the player. On came some slow music, as Trinity opened the door._

_ "What do you think?" He asked. _

_Trinity drew a blank. "I just found these in the room. It looked like they'd been used a lot though." He explained._

_ "Don't talk, just do." She said, throwing him onto the bed, beginning a very physical scene._

**Desmond**

He knew to wait two hours. Trinity told him that she'd come to his room then. He really wished he had his music here.

Remembering that Switch used to live in this room, he started look through the cabinets.

After three drawers of clothes, he found something. There was a music collection very similar to the one he had back in The Matrix. It was mostly stuff like Pink Floyd and The Beatles. However, he did find all five Boston albums.

He also found a three disk CD changer. He popped in Don't Look Back and Boston, as well as a Best of The Who CD.

He then got his guitar out and started to practice. He was thinking of playing a bit of romantic music for when Trinity got there.

Eventually, he came up with a rather smooth, repeating tune. Up and down the pitch went. It was something that he kept up.

Eventually, she came in. He continued playing the tune. "You ready for this?" he asked, picking up the tempo of his playing.

"I'm ready when you are." She said. "If you want music, you're going to have to play something on one of the CDs. I doubt you can play guitar and keep it up."

He set the guitar down, pressed play on the CD player, and got to work, making sure she got the night of her life in terms of pleasure.


	21. The Next Day

**Chapter 21: The Next Day**

Desmond awoke to the sound of a coffee pot. It was coming from the kitchen.

Getting up from his bed, he slipped on a pair of pants, and walked out of the room.

He saw that the doors to Neo and Trinity's rooms were still shut. Walking further into the living room, he saw a startling presence.

"Good morning Dez," Desdemona said. "Did you sleep alright? You sure did cut a rug last night."

He drew a blank. "How did you get in here?" he asked. "Trinity usually locks the door at night."

"She gave me a key to the apartment." She answered "I decided to drop by and make some coffee."

He couldn't believe this. "Trinity gave you a key." He said. "That makes sense. Don't get me wrong about this, but I would much rather wake up to Trinity or Neo making coffee than you. I'm a bit more comfortable with a roommate making breakfast than someone else. And plus, Neo's kind of afraid of you; the way you're always trying to flirt with him, as well as hitting on him. A man can only take so much of that from a woman." He explained.

"I get what you're saying Des" She said. "You get kind of weirded out when a person from away drops in during the early part of the morning before you even wake up."

"Exactly," He replied "Remember how Aunt Sophie always dropped in every morning during December. It drove Dad insane. He went bald from that. Aunt Sophie just wanted to see her brother get a good morning, yet _every _morning is enough to drive you mad. Please, please, please don't do this every morning. And you know I don't drink coffee, so why do you make it?"

"Well," She answered "Trinity and Neo do. Plus, the coffeemaker in my apartment is broken. _I_ need to make coffee for myself."

"Okay, whatever." He answered, taking a seat at the counter. It didn't take long for him to realize that he was still tired. He got back up, walked to his room; passing Trinity on the way.

**Trinity**

_ She got up at the smell of coffee. Getting up out of her bed, she slipped on a robe and went into the hall; passing Desmond who appeared to be going __back__ to his room._

_ She took a seat at the counter, spotting Desdemona "What are you doing here?" She asked the other woman._

_ "My coffeemaker broke, and I decided to use my key to come in, and make coffee for all of us." Desdemona answered. "You don't mind do you?" _

_ "Not at all Desda, Not at all" She answered, holding her head in her hand in a tired stupor. She needed to have some coffee._

_ "Here you go Trin." Desdemona announced, sliding a cup of black coffee to her. "You need any cream or sugar?"_

_ Trinity shook her head no. She grabbed the cup by the handle, and started to drink. _

_ It felt good to have a strong cup of coffee. Hot as an engine, black as night. It was the making of very good coffee in her opinion._

_ Immediately she felt reenergized. They could throw anything they wanted at her, she was ready. _

_ "So, did Des get lucky last night?" Desdemona asked. _

_It seemed like she's always caring about everything. "Well" Trinity answered "Let's just say it was a long night for all three of us."_

_ The other woman drew a blank. "Wait, if…" She said, pausing to think, "You had it with…." She paused again "Was it a group thing?" _

_ She shook her head no "It was back to back, and both men thought that they were the only one." She clarified._

_ Desdemona gasped "Are you…" _

_Trinity interrupted with "In love with both men. Yes." She said, holding an airy tone to her voice_

_ Desdemona just stared at her. "Do they know that you are?"_

"_No," She answered "They each think that they are the sole owners of my heart." She said, an airy tone to her voice. _

_ "Trinity, you have to let them know." Desdemona replied "The fact that there's a love triangle always makes things worse. Instead of having to choose between the two, you may just lose them both. It has the chance to break everyone's hearts. You don't want to see my brother with a broken heart, he's the saddest available when he has a broken heart. You have to let them both know the right way."_

_ "Well how do I do that?" Trinity asked "If what you tell me is true, I could lose both of them. I don't want that to happen. I can't decide which one to be with though." She continued._

_ "Well for now, pray that both men don't find out, because losing them both is only one outcome." Desdemona answered. "The other is that they both kill each other. I'd be careful about this; guy behavior is predictable, yet exact outcomes aren't."_

_ Trinity just looked at her, unsure of what to do next. She'd just taken both relationships to the next level, and if she wasn't careful, she could lose both._

_ "Well," She replied "What should I do?" Desdemona just looked at her for a moment, thinking. "You have to tell them the truth when they're both in the same room. It's risky, but it has the best odds. They have to hear you out, and the exact truth must be said. However, the next move will be either of those. Most likely they'll try and kill each other, so be careful." She explained._

_ Trinity nodded, taking in every word. "When should I do this?" She asked. _

_ "You should do this when you feel the time is right." Desdemona answered "I just pray that it'll be soon."_

_ "How soon." Trinity inquired. "Soon enough, and there's a cutie at two o-clock." Desda answered._

_ Trinity turned around, and noticed the tired form of Neo walking into the kitchen, groaning and mumbling._

_ "Why's Desda here making coffee?" He asked, before taking a seat at the counter. _

_ "My coffeemaker broke and I need my morning coffee, so I decided to use my key to drop by and make some." Desda answered. "You know how good my coffee is Neo?" She said, running her fingers through her short hair._

_ Neo looked at Trinity, then at Desda; and finally at Desmond's room. He then said "Just wait until I have some coffee, I'm not in the mood." _

_ He then started to swirl his finger on the rock counter. He also had a sort of Lights-are-on-but-nobody's-home look to his face._

_ "Just pour him a cup of coffee, and set cream and sugar on the side," Trinity whispered "He's like a zombie without his coffee."_

_ Desdemona nodded, and reached for the carafe. She grabbed a cup, and poured some coffee. She then took a creamer and sugar packet out of the jar and set it next to the coffee cup, which she had slid over to Neo's hand during the whole time._

_ Trinity looked at Desdemona, wondering what she just saw. It was like she had just served him like a waitress would._

_ "What," Desda said, noticing the stare "Used to waitress back in the Matrix. I guess a few skills stick." _

_ She then started to take out some frozen bacon, a set of pancake mix, some oil, and two frying pans from their respective places._

_ Next, she started to cook. "As Neo already knows, the best strategy to get Desmond to wake up is to cook breakfast, since he doesn't drink coffee." Desdemona explained "He always likes bacon with his breakfast, and nice and crunchy. You cook his bacon this way and he'll be set for the day."_

_ Neo at this point, had the usual life in his eyes, and was nodding at what Desda was saying. "The guy needs some bacon in the freezer. He always likes to have bacon on Saturdays, Mondays, Sundays, and Fridays. The other days he'll make pancakes." He added "Des was the best roommate ever."_

**Desmond**

After having gone back to bed, he had a short dream about flying on Neo's back, and an old guy wearing a suit in the sky.

However, the dream lasted only a few seconds, as he was brought back to reality by a very appetizing smell.

It was like pancakes and bacon were being cooked simultaneously, in separate implements though.

Sliding out of bed, he made his way into the hall. It seemed that there was a lively conversation in the hall, and Desdemona hadn't left, but instead was cooking.

"Do I smell bacon?" he asked, walking into the room. "And pancakes." Desda answered. "I thought I'd make breakfast for everyone, seeing as we're going on a mission in three hours." She said, with the nasal tone now evident in her vowel pronunciation. "Where're your trunks Desmond?" she asked.

Looking down, he noticed he was wearing his long-legged pajama bottoms. Growing up, Desda always bothered him about his jean preferences. If she would be like that throughout the entire mission, then he'd either shoot himself or her.

However, it seemed that since she was making breakfast, that negated the question.

"Whatcha doin' just standing there Des, your bacon's getting cold" Desda announced, breaking his train of thought.

Looking down, he noticed that a plate of bacon had been set on the counter in front of the third stool.

He took a seat, and began to eat. The crunchiness of the bacon was the best part of it, with a hint of hickory smoking evident in a pre-freeze-just-pre-cooked with way.

Immediately, he had a better grip on reality and felt less like a zombie. The feeling of a full stomach usually woke him up.

"I understand we're going on a mission?" he said, now with a will to speak.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna be operatin' with this guy named Link." Desdemona answered. "We're going to try and contact the Oracle. I'm told I'm very good at reading code. You can trust yourself in my hands."

Desmond drew a blank. The fact that his sister was operator was a new thing. If she was really good at reading code, then perhaps that would help. However, the fact that she was on the ship already was a hard enough fact to face.

"I think that we should have a similar rule to what we had as kids." He said "You stay out of my room, and I'll stay out of yours. Plus, Neo's currently my roommate. I think the man gets enough of your flirting attempts when you aren't in our room."

"Thanks man." Neo said, offering his fist. Desmond did the same, and they fist-bumped.

Desda had at this point, served everyone pancakes while they were all still talking.

"I've got to go. I'll see you guys on the Neb." She said, making her way out of the apartment.


	22. Questions

**Chapter 22: Questions**

Desmond had packed what he needed. A CD player, and the CD's in a travel case. He knew that there would be little time for pleasure other than the trip to the waypoint.

He packed whatever clothes he would need, and zipped it up. Taking the case out of the room with him, he saw Neo on the couch.

"You ready?" Neo asked. Desmond nodded. "I'm just waiting for Trinity to finish packing what she needs." Neo explained.

"I'm ready too." Trinity announced from behind. Desmond spun around and saw her with a backpack on.

He assumed that was all she was packing. "Let's go boys. This mission won't get done until we board." She said.

They left the apartment, which Desmond locked behind him. Neo looked at the rooster, who seemed to be waiting.

"Not today." Neo said, turning towards the bird. It was like the entire group knew what this meant.

They walked towards the elevator. Trinity pressed the button for it to stop.

They waited in silence, until the elevator arrived. Desmond held the door open by putting his arm in front of it, and said "Ladies first"

"Thank you?" Trinity replied, walking through the door. Neo walked in after her, and Desmond followed suit.

"Hey Trin," Neo asked "What was your name back before you left The Matrix?"

She froze up at the question immediately. "I agree with Neo," Desmond announced "I've wondered what it was for a while."

"Well," Trinity answered "My first name was Alice. If you want my last name, you might as well give up. I'm never giving it away." She paused. "I'll send you out cold if you call me 'Alice' though." She ended.

The elevator reached the floor with the docks, and they disembarked. They walked for a while, following Trinity.

It seemed that all of the hovercrafts were being loaded, everyone knowing their possible fates. It was like seeing people deal with the fact that they were on death row.

Yet they were still loading their ships, knowing full well what their fates were.

They reached the _Nebuchadnezzar_, and boarded. Neo and Desmond made their way back to their shared cabin. It was like old times again, them doing missions and sharing a cabin.

"I can't believe that it's only been a day." Desmond commented, breaking the silence. "It feels like the same old Neb. I just hope my Sister doesn't ruin it with her Den Mother habits."

Neo just looked at him. "I always thought that Desda's Den Mother thing was kinda neat. Always cooking meals and cleaning up everything. It was like having a maid who worked for free." He said.

"Well, let's just hope that she doesn't go all out with it." Desmond quipped. "What do you mean all out?" Neo asked.

"Well," he answered "if she starts to scrub down the Neb in her spare time, then she's gone all out."

"Well, that's not too bad." Neo replied, "I've been wondering where that smell has been coming from."

Desmond chuckled. Little did Neo know that the smell was really the leftover breakfast he had cooked; the leftovers that couldn't be thrown out.

Making his way out of the room, he started looking for Morpheus. His captain would probably know exactly where they were heading. The fact that their destination was currently a secret was killing him.

He instead found an empty ship. Every room was empty, to the point that he wondered where everyone went.

The core, the bridge, and the cabins were all empty. It was like a ghost town. He went back to his shared cabin, which also was empty.

He realized he checked every place but the Mess hall. Making his way there, he heard the sound of laughter.

Stepping inside, he saw everyone seated at the table, with a large vat in the center. The contents of the vat; spaghetti and meatballs, with a four-cheese sauce.

Desmond took a seat, and was handed a bowl, which was quickly filled. Digging into his food, he came to one of the best facts about his sister; her cooking was _incredible_.

"Desmond" Morpheus asked, interrupting him from his food. "Why did you try and keep your sister secret? If I'd have known that she could cook this way, I'd have had her freed eons ago."

"Well," He replied "let's just say that I prefer not to spend every waking moment in the same building; or ship in this case, with her."

"Well, I understand sibling animosity." Morpheus replied "Siblings just can't stand each other sometimes. Perfectly normal, very understandable."

"I'm glad you see that capt' , I really am." Desmond quipped, then diving back into the food.

"I brought a surprise for you." Neo said over Desmond's shoulder, completely startling him.

"I brought your acoustic guitar." He said "while you were in the bathroom, I decided to smuggle it aboard. I figured that you and Trinity could give a performance, seeing as you taught her to sing."

"Is that why you had such a large bag to carry everything in?" Desmond replied, "So you could smuggle _my_ guitar. Did the thought ever occur to you that I would rather keep it at Zion!"

At this point, Neo looked shocked "I just wanted to hear you play." He said. "I kind of thought that the musician in you would want to perform, plus, I really want to hear some music, and there's nothing that I can listen to."

"Well," Desmond replied "I really want to get this done, so that we can all go home. Perhaps the fact that this mission will be really hard, I like to have the guitar there when we get back. A little thing I can go to in order to feel at home? I always like to keep my home life and my work life separate, unlike you who can't even talk to someone without a computer between the two of you. No wonder you never got laid; you can't talk without a computer. You always were late to work, and for crying out loud, you always ran so many searches on The Matrix!" He paused for a moment, catching his breath, before continuing "And if you had just responded to my sister's advances, I would have never made you go to all of those singles mixers with me. If you only realized how much she wanted to be with you, how she crushed over you to the point of asking _me_ for tips on how to get in _your_ pants…"

He was interrupted by Desda "I told you to keep that secret!" He just went on. "You may have been one of my best friends, but you really needed to get out. I had us go to all of those mixers, all of those reunion concerts, and all of those parties and events for _you_! I had women lining up to be with _me_. What's the point of going to all of those places when the biggest point was already taken for. I just wanted to put a woman in your life, yet you just didn't care! I honestly thought that you were from _outer space_, because of the way you don't socialize. You may be, and still are my best friend, but you really need to meet people. You always spend so much time _hacking_ that you need to get more face time. I really don't understand half of the things you do."

Neo just looked at him for a moment, before showing the mood of the thoughts that ran through his head.

He went through a puzzled look, a sad look, thinking face, shocked, and finally an "I realize" face.

"Dude, if I'd have known that, I'd have happily thought that same way." He said. "I never realized that you felt this way about me. The fact that you want me to meet people really helped. Yet the fact remains that I really get along better with other hackers. That's why I've always viewed your sister as more of a friend than possible romance. I admire her hardware skills. She taught me most of what I used to build that laptop for you."

Trinity looked at him, "Laptop?" she said, confused. Desmond grinned. It was his favorite Neo story to tell.

"Well" he started, taking a seat "One October, Neo decides to make a portable computer. He takes so much interest, that he starts to run up the phone bill talking to my sister, a rather good thing in my opinion. So all of that November, Neo starts to gather all of the parts to it. Makes a huge mess of a workshop in the living room, all trying to perfect everything. Eventually, he makes some serious headway, and this starts around early December. Now at this point, his work starts it's spiral down the drain that was apparent by the time he was freed. So he finishes around Christmas Eve. We have this thing where we get each other a gift for the holidays, due to the fact that the apartment's secret Santa is just a waste of time. He has spent every free moment inside of the apartment, cashing his paycheck at the ATM at the next building and ordering all of the parts by phone. With it being too late to buy a gift, he decides to get the funny pages and wrap the finished machine up and give it to me. I was caught off guard by this, due to the fact that I only bought him a fancy watch. I end up writing a song to try to make it seem worth it in value." He paused, allowing it to sink in "Best Christmas ever."

For a moment everyone looked at the two men, before Morpheus spoke up "I brought us on an automatic course to our destination, and we're here."


	23. CtrlMissionStart

**Chapter 23: [Ctrl]-Mission-{start}**

They made their way to the Core, knowing what was next. It seemed that it was time for business.

Desdemona got in the operator's chair next to Link; a Zion-born black man with dreadlocks.

Morpheus, Neo, Trinity, and Desmond each got in the jack-in chairs. As Desmond slid his head on the spike, he knew it was now or never.

**Desdemona**

_ As she took a seat in the operator's chair next to Link, she felt nervous. It seemed like the entire mission would be resting on her ability as operator. _

_ She was __very__ good at reading code, to the point where she could see changes a few seconds before they happened. _

_ However, she'd just been watching the feed; looking at it in practice. She'd never actually done something as big as this._

_ She looked over to Link, who was starting up his section. "You okay there?" he asked, "you seem really nervous."_

_ "Yeah, just my first time as an operator." She paused "How do I start it up?" She asked._

_ "Just let me do that for you." He said, sliding over to her. He pressed [Ctrl], then typed in __**Mission**__, and then pressed {Start}._

_ Immediately after, the screens lit up. "Just let me do most of the important stuff. You just do that code prediction thing." He explained. _

**Desmond**

For a moment, everything was black, before the feeling came back. There was tingling, and then they were in.

They arrived in a safe-house; a basement full of phones. The features were concrete, and everything was cold.

He turned around to see Trinity, Neo, and Morpheus standing behind them.

Neo looked stone-cold stoic, as did Morpheus and Trinity. Desmond tried his best to hide his emotions, only to feel uncomfortable.

"Neo's going to contact the Oracle." Morpheus announced. "I think we'll go to her apartment this time. Trinity and I will be on the outside. I suggest you let Neo do the talking. I understand he's been having some very worrying dreams, and he thinks they'll mean something."

"Got it." Desmond answered. "Let's go then." Morpheus said, motioning to the door.

They left, and found a black SUV on the side of the road. Morpheus walked right up to the driver's side and got in, apparently having the keys on him. Trinity got in the front passenger's seat. Desmond and Neo both got in the back.

Afterwards, they began to drive. Morpheus took them across the railroad tracks, and into the bad part of town.

Immediately, the effect was noticed. A bunch of gang members could be seen, as well as prostitutes walking down the sidewalk; the fact made apparent by the skimpyness of their clothing.

The air rang out of gunshots from far away. It was like the whole place was a crime scene waiting to happen.

Desmond got the chills from looking out the window. He assumed that the Oracle would choose a less-unsavory neighborhood. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to walk very far.

Morpheus made a left, then two more, and finally a right before stopping. The whole time, the appearance of the streets got seedier.

"We're here." Morpheus announced. "The oracle lives on the fourteenth floor, room 2A." He said, indicating to a medium-size apartment building, most of which had bars on the windows.

Neo got out, and Desmond followed him out his door. It seemed that though they wouldn't have to walk far, they would have to climb some stairs.

He wished Neo could fly him there, yet that would require them to know what apartment.

He looked at Neo, who looked back at him. Then they both looked at the door.

They walked towards it, Neo opening first and holding the door for  
>Desmond.<p>

In further they went, and took the elevator up. The ride was slow, with a grinding sound being made the entire time. They reached the fourteenth floor, also the top, and made their way out of the elevator.

"It was a wonder the thing didn't stop working during that." Desmond commented.

"Yeah," Neo replied "I thought that the cable would snap, and we'd fall to our deaths."

"Yet you two didn't" A familiar voice came from behind. The two men spun around, to see the oracle standing in a door, the smell of cookies wafting into the hall. "Come in, I made cookies. I understand you like Macadamia nut." She said.

Desmond looked at Neo, who ran right into the apartment. He shrugged, and decided to follow Neo in.

The Oracle shut the door behind her. "They're on the counter, help yourselves." She said.

Desmond had noticed the source first and was already eating his fourth cookie. The Macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips were delicious. It was like eating Hawaii without the pineapple.

Neo was already on his sixth cookie, making it seem like he swallowed them whole.

Both men continued to eat the cookies, grabbing at them like wolves. The Oracle just smiled the whole time, almost content.

When they were done, the Oracle spoke up "Now that you're done, what is you came for dears?" she asked.

Desmond looked at Neo. "I've been having these dreams." The man said. "In it, I see a vision of death, and a white door."

The Oracle looked at them for a moment. "Well, what else do you see?" she asked.

"Well," Neo said "Sometimes in the dream, the door is locked. I feel like I have to open the door."

"Is it locked?" she asked. Neo nodded. "Well," she said "You need to find the Key-Maker."

Desmond spoke at this "Where can we find the Key-Maker?" he asked. "Well," The Oracle said "He's being held by the Merovingian."

Both men were confused. They knew that Morpheus would know who the Merovingian was, and perhaps then they could find the Key-Maker.

They started for the door. "Desmond." The Oracle yelled. He turned around. "The Merovingian is a relative from your past child. He's family to you." She said, before motioning for him to leave.

He followed Neo to the stairs, and took them down. Making their way out to the car, it became apparent what that message for him could mean. What the Oracle meant with "He's family to you." When she spoke of the Merovingian as family.

He prayed that it wasn't who he thought it was. However, it only made sense the more he thought about it.


	24. Meeting the Merovingian

**Chapter 24: Meeting the Merovingian**

As the car sped forward, he realized what it had meant. Neo was talking to Morpheus. Trinity looked bored, and just looked out the window.

Trinity looked at him "You okay?" She asked. Desmond shook his head no. "I was told that the Merovingian is my kin." He explained. "I have an idea exactly which member too. I just pray that the Oracle was dead wrong."

Trinity cocked her head, tilting it in a sympathetic way "Well, if he is, then perhaps you could still get him to hand over the Key-Maker. Call in a family favor perhaps?"

Desmond chuckled. He was sure that she was joking. He desperately hoped she was too.

The Vehicle came to a stop. Morpheus turned to face them "We're here." He announced.

Desmond stared out the window. It appeared they were at a five-story building, boasting a restaurant named **Hel** on the top floor. It had a nice garden at the front, as well as a driveway leading from an underground parking garage.

He looked around. It seemed that there were cars lining up the streets, parallel parked.

They got out, and followed Morpheus. He took them to the restaurant, and they walked to a table where he was seated, following a server.

They approached the man in the center, who was currently eating escargot and doing paperwork at the center of the table. A pair of white-dreadlocked bodyguards in white tuxedos flanking him. The man in the center looked up.

"I cannot talk zright now, I am zery buzy." He said. "Unlezz you have an appointment, ve cannot talk."

They still stood there. "I insist that we wouldn't be long. And if you check your appointments," Morpheus said "We're currently your four-fourty-five."

The man looked at his appointment book, leafed through it, and stopped at a page. From what Desmond could read of the French, it seemed that they were the four-fourty-five.

"Zery vell." He said "I zee you have an appointment zith ze Merovingian, he iz here. Now zhat do you zant."

Desmond looked at Morpheus, and lowered his shades, trying to get a good look at the man seated in front of them.

The Merovingian looked up at him, and grinned. "Vhy if it izn't Dezmond." He said "I'm zure you remember me-I remember my favorite nephew."

Then the realization hit him. The Merovingian was "Rich Uncle Armel." It sure had been a long time though. He remembered him having more hair, and a better hairline.

"Uncle Armel." He said, confused as to how this was possible. "Tell me," The Merovingian said "How is your muzzer doing. I've been vondering zhat happened to Jetteaux."

"Why do you want to know?" he replied. "Why are you so suddenly interested in my mom!"

The Merovingian/Armel paused. Desmond realized that everyone else on the team was watching him too. The man then replied.

"Your muzzer was the bezt big zizter a man could azk for. Zhe took care of me when I waz little. I thought that by getting rich, I could perhaps do it to thank her. But zhe left me for zis American. Yet togezzer, zey gave me a niece and a nephew. However, ze last time I saw you two, you were only five yearz old."

Desmond was shocked. The Merovingian spoke up "Now, zhat iz it you zant?" He asked.

"Well," Morpheus answered "I'd like the Key-Maker."

For a moment, the Merovingian just sat there, before replying with "Before I give you my answer, I'd like to show you something."

He tapped the waiter who was filling his wine, and whispered something to him.

The waiter went back in the kitchen, and after a few minutes, returned with a slice of cake that looked like vanilla-cheese.

"As you can see," The Merovingian said "I know what the Matrix is. A dream-world people unknowingly accept, made up of a high-level code, with the individual items done from binary." He paused "If you can manipulate the code enough, you can be a key player. Zere are programs which manipulate ze code with ease. I intend to make zem all work for me. My ultimate goal iz to own ze matrix. Az you can see, manipulating code iz rather easy. Ze cake iz orgasmic. Az my wife Pheresphone iz about to find out firsthand"

For a moment, everyone watched the cake go to her, wondering the thought process behind this.

The woman in question received the cake, picked up a fork, and began to eat. For the first bite, she looked confused, then she smiled, a grin that usually meant extreme satisfaction.

She then started to dig into the cake, gasping with each bite. They all watched her be ravished by the cake, wondering what the Merovingian was thinking.

Desmond looked at him. The Merovingian was smiling, appearing content.

"I know zhat you are thinking with zis. Vhy would I make a cake like zat. Because I grow bored, let's leave it at zat." The Mero responded, not even letting Desmond say something.

"Now," he then said "zere were we?"

"I believe we were at your answer." Morpheus said. The Merovingian just looked at him, breathing in, and then answering; "No. I can't let you have ze key-maker. I need him."

Desmond was confused as to what Morpheus would do next. Their leader then said "We'll be on our way now."

They then walked out. Everyone seemed crushed at what just happened.

"Well, I guess that's the end of our mission." Neo said.

Immediately, Morpheus turned to Desmond. "We have to remain anonymous. You lowered your sunglasses, and thus allowed for him to know your identity. It's a mistake I pray you don't repeat."

As they walked towards the door, a voice interrupted them. "Wait," a woman said.

They turned around, and saw Persephone. "I can take you to the key-maker." She said.

Everyone looked at Morpheus. "Let's go." He said. They followed her through the door, as she took them to a room in the back.


	25. Meeting the KeyMaker

_**It's back from the dead. The story that keeps on going through the trilogy, is now back to life.**_

_**I know that you've been waiting for it to keep going, but the Original Series, and Family Request Fic, as well as Other Fics have been catching up to me, trying to make me accept them.**_

_**I'm going to give you what you've been waiting for with this. I'm taking this story to all sorts of wild places, and you're all along for the ride.**_

_**Please review after you enjoy…**_

**Chapter 25: Meeting The KeyMaker**

**Desdemona**

_ She kept her eye on the feed, looking for the abnormality. There was always a change in the code, and it is usually never good._

_ Currently, the code read normal. The usual Chinese and Japanese symbols interspersed read good. _

_ It was the Korean symbols, the Asian letters that were all straight lines, that meant something was wrong._

_ She kept scanning the feed. _

"_Link." She called, still facing the feed._

_ "Yo," the man replied "We have anything wrong."_

"_No, not at the moment," she replied. She paused, and saw it. It was a percent sign. These meant an essential program was nearby. "Scratch that," she continued "We're approaching an essential program to The Matrix."_

_ "An agent?" Link asked "Is it a trap?"_

"_No, if it were an agent, there'd be a pi symbol. I saw a percent sign." she explained "That means a code changing program is nearby."_

_ "That makes sense," he replied "They're going to see the KeyMaker. He's a program like that."_

_ "I'll keep a watch then." She replied "I recommend scanning for a Korean letter. They're Asian letters made of only straight lines."_

_ "I'll keep an eye out." Link added._

**Desmond**

He had to admit, his aunt and uncle knew how to live. Their house was very ornate.

They passed one of his new favorites. It was a room filled with medieval weapons, all surrounding a set of stairs.

His Aunt took them down the hallway on the first story of that, and into a long hallway.

They passed seven doors, when they reached the sixth on the right, where Persephone motioned for them to stop.

"In this door," she explained "You will find the KeyMaker. Go from there."

With that, she opened the door for the four of them, and revealed the room.

It was about 20 by 16, and full of keys.

All along the walls, held onto by key-hooks. Keys of all shapes and sizes, using at least five different metals. They were all there, testament to a master locksmith.

Desmond couldn't believe his eyes. He whistled, a fluid decrescendo.

Looking forward, at the other side of the room, there was the only piece of furniture in the room.

A workbench with an attached stool was at the far end. In the stool, hunched over a grinder, was a small little Asian-looking man.

"I'll leave the four of you now." Persephone announced, leaving the door open and walking away.

"Bye Aunt Persephone." Desmond called as she walked away.

"Goodbye Desmond." She returned "Say hi to your sister for me."

Desmond looked back in the room.

It seemed the KeyMaker had started using a file on the key he was making. "Are you the Mero's executioners?" he asked

"No," Morpheus answered "We're currently here to rescue you. The One needs your help."

"So you've finally found him." The KeyMaker replied, turning around.

What was on his waist really caught Desmond's eye.

There was whole key-rings, almost completely full of keys.

"You've got a lot of time on your hands." Desmond commented "I doubt that there are even this many locks in the world."'

"There are, and millions more." The Keymaker replied "The whole world is full of locks, and for every lock, there has to be a key."

"True that." Desmond replied "Let's get you outta here."

"I agree with Desmond." Morpheus added "Let's go."

With that, they started to make their way up the hall.

**Desdemona**

_ She was currently scanning the feed, looking for a abnormality, one that everyone else couldn't pick up on._

_ There were always symbols that meant something, a little thing for each big event._

_ It was like the Matrix was a multi-part system, using little programs that built into the bigger ones. _

_ Each symbol seemed to be a password to an event in The Matrix, a precursor leading to the next._

_ Each symbol seemed to mean something, they were never just random._

_ It seemed that while others saw the whole picture from multiple pieces of code, she could see how each played to form it. No one even got what she meant. She always had to explain each one._

_ "Anything new?" Link asked, tapping her on the shoulder._

_She quickly scanned the feed. She then saw a symbol that was never good. It was an X. Those were never put in unless it was a very rare thing; a virus._

_ "We've got a virus coming towards them!" she called, pointing at the feed._

_ Multiple X's dotted the feed for a few moments, before showing the code back to a pure image._

_ It seemed a pair of white-suited, dreadlocked al bino twins were headed their way with more henchmen._

_ "You've got to warn them." She instructed._

"_Right on it." Link replied, typing a command into the console._

**Desmond**

His mobile rang. It was the China-rule of thirds ringtone. That meant it was an operator at the other end.

He grabbed it, and pressed receive.

"What is it Link?" he asked.

"You guy's got the Mero's henchmen after you." Link explained "Find a way outta there."

"We've got to jet." Desmond explained out loud. "Can't leave the way we came." He then put it on speaker.

"You've got a car garage in the door to your right in that weapon place." Link explained "If you can get there, you can get out."

"Right away." Desmond explained, hanging up.

**Desdemona**

_ She went back to scanning the code, looking for some way to get them outta there._

_ The fact remained that the X's were still there. With a little more scanning of the surrounding symbols, she could probably find their weakness, or at least where they were headed._

_ She looked over the first burst of code, and watched where the X's were. They were currently grouped into a pair._

_ Then she scanned for the directional letters. W, A, D, and S. they were the directional buttons on a lot of the new games released in The Matrix, but also took the direction marker for where you went. _

_ Even the pirate signal they broadcast left these. Currently, there was a D and an S, at the left of the X's._

_ "They're going to the down and left." She explained. _

"_Can't do much about that though." Link replied "Just keep an eye out for what they do next."_

_**I love cliffhangers. The very idea of leaving you wanting more is one of my favorite things. **_

_**I think Desdemona and Link make a wonderful team. How about you.**_

_**I don't know that unless you review though.**_


End file.
